Prey
by Chaos Productions
Summary: After a mysterious temple of unknown origin near Japan unexpainably explodes, a wave of chaos washes over Mahora, drawing some visitors to it as well... With the Hunters and their Prey loose on the campus, how will the girls of 3-A survive this war?
1. Chapter 1

Story summary:

When an old temple is found, its origins are believed to be from the Magical world. But when its prisoners escape and run free, their jailors make their appearance. How will Ala Alba survive a war between two unknown species? Negima x AVP crossover. I would've said so in the summary, but I ran out of space. If you're prone to react negatively to character deaths, M-rated violence or simply dislike the idea, don't read any further. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. First chapter Rated T, the rest probably M. Set after the Festival Arc of the manga. Sorry, but the Magical World just has _too_ much for me to foolow. Special thanks to Traingham and Dragemenian Jew for helping me with my Negima! research and motivating me to get this up. You guys are Awesome.

CHAPTER 1

Prologue – The Hunt Begins

Mei Sakura nervously shifted her weight onto her right leg, crossing her hands behind her back. She had received a letter the previous day to meet with Gandolfini and another foreign mage to discuss a matter of great importance, according to the foreign mage. Megumi Natsume, one of her acquaintances, received a similar message. From the look on her face, one could easily deduct that she felt just as anxious under the stern gaze of this elder mage.

Gandolfini stepped forward and cleared his throat. "This is Professor Michael Harrington, a mage from the United Kingdom. He is employed as a history lector at the Oxford University. He also works with matters of possible connections between the Magical world and the mundane one."

"Connections?" Megumi asked, relaxing a bit. "What kind of connections?"

"More like remnants of the worlds in the wrong place. Magical world ruins appearing here, and certain mundane relics and artefacts appearing the Magical world." The mage said before clearing his throat. "Now, a few hours ago, we dispatched a team of mages to investigate and old temple found on a small island near the coast of Japan. Judging from the first few reports, we have a suspicion it's an ancient temple from the magical world." He glanced at the two girls quickly before continuing. "Now, we ordered them to go deeper into the temple in a bid to see whether our suspicions are correct."

"But something happened?" Mei asked, gulping softly after she spoke. She had thought she was in trouble for some reason.

"Nothing dire." The mage answered. "We simply lost contact with them. That's why we called you two here." He said, standing up. "We want you two to go to this temple, find the team of mages and assist them with their task."

"Why only the two of us?" Mei asked.

"It's hardly necessary to send a whole team when we have a group of fifteen able-bodied mages on site already." The mage chuckled. "Sending more would be rather costly, not to mention we'd be going through unnecessary trouble to gather another team." The mage looked at them and smiled. "You two proved yourself able enough for a small task like this during the Mahora Festival. From what we can gather, the dangers are minimal. But we must get you to the temple as soon as possible." The mage said sternly. "The mages aren't the only people with an interest in such ruins. Large companies and organizations and millionaires with satellites in orbit will also see this temple soon enough. If this temple really does originate from the magical world, we must empty it of anything that could lead the mundane populace to the magical world."

Both girls nodded, serious expressions on their faces. "When do we leave?" Mei asked.

"Immediately." The mage said as he walked to the door. "The sooner you get to the temple, the better." He turned around at the doorway. "Gandolfini will answer any questions you have, as well as brief you on how you'll get back here. Afterwards, we are preparing a helicopter for you." Without waiting for the girls' response, he left.

"Why do we need a helicopter?" Megumi asked Gandolfini.

"Your guide is one of the mundane folk." He said. "We can't risk him finding out about the mages."

"What about onee-sama?" Mei asked timidly.

"I'll admit Takane wasn't happy about this decision." Gandolfini sighed. "I had to send her on an errand to keep her from interfering with this little mission." Mei grew worried at hearing these words. "However, Professor Harrington has placed a spell on you that acts like a long range Pactio summon." He continued, making her smile slightly. "In four hours, both of you will be automatically transported back here, mages or no. We trust you'd have found the necessary information by then. The island isn't too far, either. About half an hour's flight at most." A loud tone came from his pocket, and he quickly removed his cell phone, flipped it open and answered. After a brief period, he nodded. "Understood." He turned to Mei and Megumi. "You two better be off now. Your chopper's waiting, and your guide is getting impatient."

* * *

"Shit, man, I'm telling you I don't like this place." A dark silhouette told another as a group of seven figures moved through the dark corridors of an ancient temple, large briefcases swaying back and forth in a slow, constant motion. "They told us this was a temple! Damn it, this is some kind of castle!"

"Shut up, Maverick!" Another silhouette spat. "Our employer will have our asses if we chicken out now." He grimaced. "Our other team already carried one half of the package outta the one burial chamber. Now we need to breach the other one and then stand aside the researchers."

"Say, who were those other guys with the sticks?" One silhouette asked from the back.

"Intruders." The leading silhouette answered. "Shoot 'em on sight." With a soft snapping sound, a bright red light erupted in the leader's hands as he lit a flare, illuminating the room with an eerie red glow. The silhouettes were all exposed, by this light, revealing body armour, knife holsters and odd goggles resting on their foreheads. "This must be the passageway leading to the second burial chamber." The flare quickly died out, masking the chamber in darkness again. "Time to go to work, boys." The leader grinned. "Goggles on, and ready your weapons." Each member of the party obliged, pulling down their goggles and turning a switch at its sight, and each eye socket lighted up in a bright green glow. "Much better." The leader said as he started fumbling with the locks on his briefcase, quickly letting it fall to the ground as he gripped a rifle tightly in his hands, each of his comrades following suite, resulting in a loud ruckus that echoed far into the passageway.

"Will you stop being such fools!?" A voice over their radios sounded. "We don't know how stable this thing is!"

"Sup, prof." The leader smirked. "You been waiting long?"

"Just get down here." The voice sounded again. "This place is making my men anxious. I thought you were professional mercenaries?"

"We are." The leader smirked again. "But you didn't hire us, your boss did, and she didn't give us a schedule, so we're taking our sweet time. There's lots to pillage here. See ya down there. Out." He said as he clicked his radio off.

"Ooh, lookie here!" One of the mercenaries exclaimed as he stood near the corner of the passageway. "We got a well in a castle. And this well goes down deep…" He said, hanging over the edge.

"That's not a well, nimrod. It's a grate. A broken one." The leader sighed.

"Then why's this bucket here?" The mercenary countered. He chuckled when his leader stared at him menacingly. "Hey, let's check something out." He said, excitedly popping another flare and placing it in the bucket. Then, with the tip of his rifle, he pushed the bucket into the opening and leaned over, exhaling into a whistle to accompany its descent, until the red light vanished. "Shit… This one goes _very_ deep…"

* * *

With a loud clatter and a few scrapes, the stone bucket came tumbling down the shaft, the flare long dead as it picked up more momentum as it fell. A loud crack echoed through the small chamber as it impacted with a loose shard of stone protruding from the wall. With a soft rumble, the stone came loose and plummeted towards the ground, falling on a strange tile with the marking of what seemed like some kind of snake in a circle decorating it.

Another rumble echoed, louder this time, as the tile sunk into the ground, as several more sounds followed. A bolt slid into place, resulting in several gears turning under the floor and inside the walls, as the one across the entrance split in two and started sliding sideways as a white light penetrated the shadows, revealing the inside of the room.

The more the walls came apart, the more items in the room became visible. Several chests stacked upon each other, plates and other household items matted with dust, letting only a slight shine out in a few areas, and rune stones and tablets depicting various ancient occurrences. But the room immediately starts radiating something more, something _dark_ as the rest of the items become visible. Each of the items in the chamber is covered in skeletal remains, bones strewn across the room, decorating the floor in a bony maze.

As soon as the doors are completely open, two more bolts slide into place, and another loud rumble shakes the temple as a titanic platform slowly exits from the opening in the wall, crushing bones and other items in its way. Four pillars stood on this platform, suspending a large, spider-like steel contraption with a large, fleshy sack hanging near the back and a long, wide crest between the two front shards. The whole platform was still covered in a permafrost-like substance, as several sparks fly in the background.

Then the crest moved.

And following suit, a large black part of the contraption started moving and writhing with it. With a loud crack, an area on the left side of the mechanism shattered, and a skeletal hand with two long fingers, and a thumb on each side broke free. A louder crack came from the right, as another four-fingered hand erupted from its icy tomb. Each hand was restrained by what seemed like a shackle made of solid stone.

The being's entire body was writhing now, breaking free from its suit of ice, letting the shards drop to ground. The crest moved again, with enough force to shatter the chain that held it there, and the being bowed its head, crest swaying as it slowly looked around. Its body was entirely free of the ice now, revealing it to be large and skeletal, almost like a machine. Its body and crest was tinted in muted shades of black and dark blue, and its tail seemingly disappeared into the fleshy sack that hung suspended from below its chest. It quickly whipped its head up as it heard a ruckus coming from a few floors above it, and hissed softly. Its head came out from under the visor of its crest, showing it to be almost cylindrical in shape. It lacked eyes or nostrils, as a shiny black dome covered that area of its face, stopping short of its upper lip. With a wicked snarl, the creature pulled back its lips, baring two rows of sharp fangs as it hissed loudly. Several muffled sounds came from the sack, as it too started moving, inflating and deflating slightly as a small, fleshy tube emerged from it, falling limply onto a small platform. The creature pulled its head back, arched its back and opened its mouth, emitting a high pitched, animalistic shriek as an oval-shaped item started pushing through the tube. It bared its teeth again, this time letting it's jaw drop as spit pooled in its lower jaw, as it let its tongue exit its mouth. It had a second set of jaws on a cylindrical muscle acting as its tongue.

And with a glance upwards, the creature let out another shriek as a large, green egg exited the tube.

* * *

Megumi whistled as she gazed upon the temple. "This is _not_ a temple, Mei." She said, glancing at the diagonal sides of the building. "I would say it's some kind of pyramid, but the towers at each point and at the centre tell a different story."

"Let's just get in there and find the mages." Mei said with a determined expression. "I want leave here as soon as possible. This place gives me the creeps."

"It should." A small, weedy old man said as he shuffled past them. "We saw a group of people with long sticks go in there this morning. They haven't come out yet." He frowned. "If they're in there, they're heading to the burial chamber."

"How old is this thing?" Megumi asked.

"Nobody knows." The old man said softly. "Well, my job is to bring you here and to take you back. I'll wait here until you're done." He said, sitting down on a boulder.

"Thanks for the help, sir." Mei smiled, before turning to Megumi. "Let's get going."

* * *

"Wow…" Mei wondered aloud as she scanned the chamber with her flashlight. "This place is huge!" She exclaimed as she and Nutmeg walked towards the doorway at the far end of the hall.

"How high do you think that ceiling was?" Nutmeg asked her friend as they passed through several passageways, and entered a small room with lots of carvings on the walls. "My guess is about fifty feet…" She glanced around again, shining her flashlight at the walls. "Whoa… Who do you think these guys are?" She asked as she walked towards one of the wall carvings near a doorway. "They sure don't look like they came from the magical world…" She said, focusing the beam of her light on the tablet. The creatures were very roughly etched, but two could still make out a long, cylindrical head, arching slightly near the end. Its mouth was open, and a second set of jaws was sticking out. It had a slender, almost bony body, and a long, ridged tail ending in some kind of blade. The area next to it was cracked and broken, with several of the shards missing or on the ground. However, they could still see a small, gun-like mechanism on one shard, and fist with two jagged blades above it on another. Mei gulped slightly as she glanced at the creature again, and saw sharp talons on its fingers.

"I-It looks like some kind of… snake…" Mei said as she squinted at it. "Only with arms and legs…"

"Doesn't sound like no snake to me…" A man voice behind them made them jump slightly. "_Adea-_" Mei started whispering, hoping to call out her artefact, but was cut off when she felt something cold press against the back of her head. She saw Nutmeg's eyes widen, and they spun around, coming face to face with the barrels of several guns. "Wrong day to gatecrash, kiddo." The man in the centre of the group spoke up, making the other four grin. "Now, who would send two nice pieces o' jailbait like yourselves down here?" He asked with a smirk, chambering a round into his shotgun. "Best consider your answer, girly. If you're with another group, or if you say something that seems threatening, you die."

"Settle down now, Davis." The man on the far left of the group said. "You're not in charge here, I am. And you seem a bit _too_ eager to squeeze that trigger." He glanced at the Mei, then at Nutmeg. "Gomez, search 'em." He called to the woman next to the man called Davis. "Confiscate _anything_ that can be confiscated, and see if they're wired. The rest of you should take aim in case they try anything funny." Davis smirked at hearing his boss' order.

"Finally…" He said.

Mei winced as Gomez quickly and efficiently searched them, confiscating their flashlights, water cartons, Mei's pactio card and Nutmeg's small staff before handing them to one of the other men. "Ooh, what a pretty card…" Davis wondered as he took it from the woman and handed it to the leader.

"Now what are you lot doing here? Who sent you?" The man in charge asked sternly. Mei gulped slightly as Davis inched the barrel of the shotgun closer to her face. Quickly thinking up a lie, she answered him with a shaky voice.

"M-my father came here earlier…" She said. "He said th-that he'd be w-waiting for us near the burial chamber." Nutmeg nodded in agreement. Mei heard the other two nameless men speaking to each other.

"Her dad? That means we killed that old man out there for nothing…"

"Gah, leave him. He was a local. Didn't matter much. Let him rot."

Mei visibly paled at hearing this, and she heard Nutmeg shakily exhaling, confirming that she heard it as well. "Your dad…" The leader said. "One of the men with the staffs?" Mei nodded silently. "Then take us to them." He said with a grin, backing away and motioning to the hall with his hand.

"Ladies first…" He said. "Gomez, Davis, stick behind them. You two," He pointed at the two nameless men, "On their flanks. Make sure they don't communicate."

"What if they do?" Davis asked.

"Do I need to tell you?" The leader asked with a smirk. "Do what you normally do to hostages who don't cooperate…"

* * *

"Come on, man, we've been at it for hours." A blonde mage told the leader of their fifteen-man group. "There are no traces of the magical world here! Why should the burial chamber be any different?"

"Most of the riches in such temples are kept in the burial chambers." The leader mage responded. "Besides, the trap door to the chamber should be right," He glanced at the large tile in front of them, "here! Bingo." He said with a smile.

"That's one big tile…" One of the mages spoke up. "Think they had lots of traffic down there?"

"Dunno." The leader mage answered. "Gather round one the tile in front of this one, it should be the pressure plate to open it."

"You sure?" Another mage asked as they all stood on top of the tile.

"I'm positive." The leader mage said with an excited smile. Everyone was on the tile now, but nothing happened. A few rumbles came from the tile, but after that, everything was silent again. The leader mage's smile vanished. "Damn it!" He hissed, bringing his staff down on the tile.

A loud crack echoed through the chamber, followed by more, and the tile the mages were standing on suddenly shattered. They fell on top of each other with startled cries as they started sliding down a stone slope, heading towards an eerie, white light at the end of the shaft. "Brace yourselves!" The leader mage cried. In a cloud of dust, the heap of tangled limbs exited the shaft and dropped to the floor. Several loud cracks were heard as they landed.

For a few moments, nobody moved. "Okay, who broke what?" The leader groaned as he stood up.

"I'm okay." One mage said.

"Me too."

"Nothing broken here."

"Except for all these bones on the floor." One white haired magistress stated while picking one up. "These must be old to have broken so easily." An odd dripping sound was echoing through the chamber.

"Ugh… Gather round…" The leader mage said as he quickly as he scanned the room. "That door there must be the entrance, so that must mean we bypassed…" His voice died out as he saw the white haired magistress back away from something behind them, eyes wide with fear. "What… What's wrong?" He asked, turning around to see what was causing her behaviour, with the rest of the mages doing the same. Then he froze.

Before them, suspended on a large insect-like machine, a black, skeletal creature writhed and squirmed in its shackles. Long chains and locks also suspended a large ovipositor, similar to that of a queen termite. It had a huge crest growing out of the back of its head, sloping down into a pronged visor of sorts. Underneath it, the tip of what looked like its nose was just barely visible. Some kind of substance was dripping from it.

The leader mage's heart started beating faster, matching the echoes of the fast-paced dripping in the chamber. _What the…_ His thoughts stopped dead as its large head turned in his direction, and something started moving under the pronged shield of its crest. What he had thought to be the creature's nose was slowly inching forward, showing it to be a large, oval-shaped dome. A loud hiss came from it, as the amount of spit dripping from it increased. The mages recoiled in horror as the beast looked at them, baring two rows of sharp fangs and a second set of jaws within its mouth. It pulled it lips back, making its fangs seem even longer as it hissed again, louder this time.

"What the hell is that!?" A dark-skinned mage managed to yell, oblivious to the reaction he drew from the beast. It arched its back and shrieked, making the mages grab their ears, some of them even dropping their staffs in the process. The creature hissed at them again, and they heard something scuttling on the floor around them. The creature then tossed its head back, and just as it shrieked, a spider-like creature shot forward from between the chests, flying straight at the leader mage. "Deflecti-" He hardly had time to react as its legs clamped around his head, and its tail quickly wrapped around his throat.

Squirming on the floor and struggling to breathe, he heard his comrades' panicked shrieks as more scuttling came from the areas around them, accompanied by several squeaks, anguished cries and a last shriek from the suspended monster before he lost consciousness.

* * *

"Mac!" A voice over the leader's radio made Mei jump. "Mac, you there?"

"What is it, Jones?" Mac, the leader of the team, answered.

"We lost contact with the researchers near the entrance of the burial chambers. We're moving to check it out now."

"Researchers?" Nutmeg whispered to Mei, earning her a shove with the shotgun. "Boss said no talkin'" Davis grinned.

"Why the hell weren't you there when you were supposed to be?" Mac asked angrily. "Dammit, must you always be such a lazy ass!?"

"I said we're going, for God's sake!" The voice over the radio replied. "Jesus… Calm down. We're almost there."

"If anything happened to those researchers…" Mac growled. "I swear to God I will skin you alive and leave our employer to deal with you afterwards!!" He clicked the radio off before glancing at Mei and Nutmeg. "Up against the wall. Now!"

"Sir?" Gomez asked. "I thought they were taking us to the intruders?"

"Wait and see…" Mac growled before turning back to face Mei. "You. You told me that one of the men we saw earlier was your father, right?" Mei nodded with a nervous expression on her features. "Take aim at four-eyes." He ordered the other four. "Now, we've been moving for quite some time…" He glared at her angrily. "And I see _nothing_ from you. No sorrow that you're about to sell him out, no worries about his safety so far. Only fear. Fear of the weapons in our hands." Gomez's eyes widened a bit. She seemed to realize something. "Now, I'm certainly not as stupid as you think… Why would you sell your dear daddy out like this?" He growled, drawing a large revolver from his hip. After spinning it, he aimed at Nutmeg. "No more lies." He said angrily. _"Who the fuck sent you?"_ Mei clenched her fists, ready to fire off a spell if the need arose.

"Mac!" His radio sounded again. "Dude, you ain't gonna like this…" The man on the other end of the radio sounded nervous. Mac grunted.

"Speak up."

"Well… you see… er…"

"Spit it out!" Mac yelled into his radio.

"The researchers are gone!" The voice responded quickly.

"What? What do you mean?"

"I mean they're MIA. There's no trace of 'em here, only a buttload of spit and…" The voice grew softer, as if it moved away from the radio. "What the… is that blood? Shine the flashlights over there… What is tha… Oh Christ, that's them! Regroup! On me! Switch to night vision and take aim!" The voice grew loud again. "Shit, man, the researchers are dead! We're pulling out!"

"What do you mean!? Who killed them!?" Mac barked into the radio.

"Shit, I dunno, man! They… They've all got gaping holes in their chests! That little bitch didn't tell us anything about –"

"Son of a bitch!" A voice sounded in the background, followed a several gunshots. "I saw something move! Something moved there!" Someone screamed in the background, and more shots followed. Mei felt her heart start to hammer in her chest. Something was attacking the other team.

"Ramirez is down! Everyone, fall back! We're pulling out!" The voice sounded over the radio, with several more in the background. More gunshots went off in the background, and loud hisses and shrieks suddenly joined the background sounds.

"What the fuck is that? Jones? Jones!" Mac yelled into his radio.

"Shit man it just butchered Nathan! We're down to five me-" A loud screech interrupted Jones' report, followed by a horrified scream. "Gah! No! Get off m-" A loud slur off static cut the transmission.

"Jones! What the fuck is going on!? JONES!" Mac was sweating profusely now, and the radio shook in his hands. His face was rapidly losing colour. The static stopped again, and a terrified, bloodcurdling scream sounded from it, so loud that the frequency became distorted. Then the scream quickly turned into a gurgle, and then silence. Mei gasped loudly and covered her mouth, but Davis didn't seem to notice. His attention was on the radio. _They said there wouldn't be any danger! _She thought to herself, trying to calm herself.

"Jones? Answer me, Goddammit!" Mac yelled. "Domingo? Vega? What the fuck is going on!?" A high-pitched shriek answered him, distorting the frequency again, and the radio died.

Mac was breathing heavily, in sharp, ragged breaths. In one movement, he picked up the revolver that he dropped during the transmission and struck Mei on the side of her head. The blow knocked her off her feet and her eyes began to water as the pain pulsed through her head. Mac then grabbed her by her hair, hoisted her up and slammed her into the wall with such force that some of the older stone cracked. The back of her head started bleeding, coating the glyphs behind her in red. The pain made a shriek escape her mouth. He then grabbed her by her jaw and pushed her back into the wall, and backed away as he aimed at her. "Now…" He growled. "You listen to me, you little _bitch_! I don't care who sent you, or who came before you, I just know your friends just butchered my men! Now," He said, pulling back the hammer of the revolver until it clicked and stayed in place. "I'm going to count to three, and if you don't tell me what the fuck followed you in here, I'll splatter your brains all over this goddamn wall!" Mei continued to shake and quiver uncontrollably.

"One…" Mac rasped, resting his finger on the trigger. Mei saw Davis and Gomez restraining Nutmeg, who was crying out to her friend.

"Two…" A soft creak could be heard as Mac started to pull the trigger with madness in his eyes. Mei glanced down at his belt and saw a bag with her Pactio card and Nutmeg's staff hanging from his belt. _On three, I have to dive for that bag… It's our only hope now… He'll surely shoot me if I chant a spell!_

"Thr-" A muffled cry from behind Mac interrupted him just as Mei bent forwards slightly, followed by a slight shuffling sound. In an instant, he whipped around and scanned his surroundings. Mei heard the men ready their guns. "Evans?" Mac cried out. "This isn't time for games, asshole! Where are-" A loud _clang_ echoed through the passageway as an assault rifle dropped from the roof onto the floor. Mac quickly ran over and scanned it with his flashlight, and gasped softly. Moving to the side, Mei could see why: Blood. Blood covered the rifle, and what looked like a finger still clung to the trigger. "Oh God…" Mac gasped again, dropping his revolver and drawing his rifle. He turned back to the remaining three people with a fierce expression. "What the fuck happened!? Did any of you see that!?" The soldiers shook their heads, raising their rifles to their shoulders. Mei saw that the small bag was on the floor, undoubtedly unhooked by Mac's sudden movement. _I need to get that bag!_

"Fuck this!" Mac spat. "Line Four-Eyes up and shoot her! We'll send a message that way. Gomez! Use your grenade launcher!" He said, training his assault rifle on Mei again, making her step back against the wall. "Hurry it up!" He barked as Gomez walked backwards to the opposite wall, aiming a small tube-like gun at Nutmeg. Mei broke out into a cold sweat at seeing her load a small, silver grenade into it. She glanced back at the small bag lying on the floor, then at Mac's maniacal grin as he watched Gomez aim at Nutmeg. Slowly, she got down on her hunches and prepared to launch herself at the bag. _If I can just get my artefact, I might be able to-_

"Look out!!" Nutmeg hysterically screamed, pointing at the area behind Gomez. Mei glanced up just in time to see two bony, black hands emerge from the shadows, clamp around Gomez's neck from behind, and jerk her up with enough force to make the gun slip from her hands. With a loud scream, she was pulled into the shadows, and her scream was cut off as a stream of red liquid splattered onto the floor. Mei's eyes widened, and she could hear Nutmeg panting slightly. Mac's reaction was instantaneous.

"DIE!" He yelled as he aimed at the shadows and sprayed a rain of lead into them. Davis and the other soldier soon followed suit, aiming randomly at the shadows and shooting like crazy, forgetting all about the two girls. _Now!_ Mei thought quickly as she dove at the bag, successfully ripping it open. She quickly grabbed her Pactio card and slid Nutmeg's staff over to her.

"_Adeat! Favor Purgandi!"_ In a blinding flash, a broom appeared in Mei's hand as Nutmeg picked up her small staff.

"The fuck…" Mac turned towards the girls and saw the broom in Mei's hands. _Where did that come from!?_ 'I'll show you what happens when you mess with us!" He roared as he swung his gun in Mei's direction and opened fire, just barely missing her in his enraged state. Mei quickly dove behind one of the statues in the chamber.

"_Maple Naple À La Mode." _She chanted softly, hearing Nutmeg do the same on the other side of the chamber. All three men were shooting at her now, and the old statue's base was quickly being chipped away.

"See how you like this!" Davis yelled as he picked up Gomez's grenade launcher and aimed at the statue. "Say goodnight!!"

"_Ex Somno Exsistat Exundans Undina Inimicum Immergat in Alveum! Vinctus Aquarius!_"

A large wave of water rushed forwards and encircled Davis' arm, pulling the grenade launcher down as it tangled around the rest of his body. "What the hell!?" He cried, trying to break loose.

Mei jumped out from behind the pillar. "_Ad Summam Exarmatio!_" She shot a disarming spell at Mac, hitting him dead in the arm. As a result, his rifle flew out of his hand and most of the armour on his arm evaporated.

"Chant faster than this, you witch!" He cried, drawing a handgun with a very long clip protruding from it. He aimed at her faster than she expected, and she had scarcely ducked back behind the statue when more automatic fire barreled her way. The other nameless soldier was relentlessly shooting in Nutmeg's direction, causing her to duck behind a protruding plate of stone for cover. Mac grinned, dove for the grenade launcher Davis dropped and aimed at the statue, a murderous look gleaming in his eyes. "You're meat!" Mei closed her eyes and braced herself for the shot…

But no gunshots came from Mac's direction. She only heard a slight rip, and Mac cried out in pain. Mei opened her eyes, but didn't dare to look around. It was only when she saw a splatter of red move on the floor, and heard Nutmeg's shriek when she forced herself to glance at Mac again. And when she did, her broom fell to the floor as her face contorted into a mask of fear.

Mac had been impaled. A long, ridged tail tipped with a blade had torn right through his armor and chest, giving it an odd crimson gleam in the high beams of the mercenaries' lights. The beams also illuminated the creature behind him. It was slightly taller than Mac, with a long, cylindrical head with a dome over its eyes and nostrils. It's body was a muted bronze colour, with a bony appearance on its carapace and slender limbs ending in clawed hands and feet. It started hissing at the back of Mac's head.

Mei inhaled sharply and held her breath. There was blood pooled around the creature's mouth, and on its lips. She felt her heart begin to hammer in her chest, each one reverberating through her body. Each hiss parted the lips slightly, sending spittle and droplets of blood flying onto its victim. Mei stepped back, constantly moving until her back met the wall as she stared at the scene before her.

With ease, the creature used its tail to lift Mac's body up and turn him to face it. It glared at him for a short while, and then hissed loudly, parting its lips completely to reveal two rows of fangs. Mac's eyes widened and his face paled completely as he stared into the creature's face. A wet spot had formed between his legs. Slowly, the monster opened its mouth, revealing a second set of jaws in the place of its tongue. In a flash, it shot forward; impaling Mac right through his skull, sending more red liquid spraying against the ground, and his body became limp. With a loud shriek, the creature tossed Mac's body to the other side of the room with its tail, and turned its attention to Mei, who was quivering against the wall. It drew back its lips and uttered a long hiss.

"Son of a bitch!" The other nameless soldier leapt onto the monster's back, and started stabbing it with his blade, easily bringing it to the ground under his weight.

"Mei!" Nutmeg yelled from the other side of the chamber, a look of fear plastering her features. "We need to get out of here! Come on!" Mei blinked a few times and looked back at the brawl on the floor before her. It took a while for her to come to her senses, and she quickly inched forward, circling around the battle and picking up her artifact. She didn't get far, however; her heart leapt to her throat and her voice disappeared when a hand closed around the arm that held her broom with an iron grip, and started lifting her into the air. She was slowly being turned around to face her assailant: another one of the creatures, this one a dark black colour, with ridges on the dome of its head. It bared its teeth at her, hissing loudly, covering her face with drops of spit. It quickly glanced sideways as they heard a loud scream, and saw Nutmeg tumbling forward with four long, deep gashes on her back as another creature, similar to the bronze one, moved towards her on all fours. The black creature's other hand clamped around her jaw hardly, and twisted her head to meet its gaze as it opened its mouth, revealing a set of second jaws identical to that of the bronze monster that killed Mac.

Mei visibly shuddered as she felt a stream of warm liquid trailing down her thighs, and tears started running down her cheeks. Her voice refused to cooperate as she could only gasped softly at the creature as it reared its head back slightly. Just then, the second mouth shot forward, and Mei clamped her eyes shut. Her voice came from nowhere as she uttered a loud shriek of horror.

But all she felt was a scratch along her cheek, and she heard a loud shriek as several small items flew into her face. She quickly tore her eyes open when the creature's hands let her go, and she saw a large rock falling to the floor with her.

"That bitch is mine!" Davis yelled as he dove at the creature, drawing a long blade as he did so. The creature hissed again, showing some gaps between its fangs where the rock had hit it, and leapt at Davis, pulling its hands back in preparation to strike.

Mei landed just as a sickening squelch echoed through the room. She quickly glanced at Davis and the creature, fearing what she may see, but to her surprise, the two were still parrying each other's attacks. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, and spun around to come face to face with the other nameless mercenary. He quickly glanced at Davis, and turned back to her. "Grab your friend and run." He said sternly. "And make sure you don't turn back!" He shoved her past him, towards Nutmeg's crouched from as he stormed at the creature, which was quickly gaining the upper hand against Davis. She quickly looked around to the bronze creature that killed Mac, and saw that the front of its face was impaled on a stone jutting out from the statue she used as cover. She also saw the other bronze creature, the one that attacked Nutmeg, lying on its side with a large gash in its forehead. A bladeless knife was lying beside it as its blood oddly ate away at the stone, like acid.

She quickly knelt next to Nutmeg, helping her up while she squirmed from the pain the wounds on her back were causing her. "W-We need to get out of h-here!" She started pulling Nutmeg towards one of the exits just as Davis' body hit pillar next to it, a large, gaping hole present on his forehead. His eyes were blank and glassy. Nutmeg gasped and fell to her knees. "COME ON!" Mei put effort into pulling Nutmeg to her feet again, and they took off down one of the passages, grabbing one of the mercenaries' torches as they did so.

"W-Wait… Wait up…" Nutmeg called as they came to rest in the middle of a bridge. "T-this isn't the way we came." Mei fearfully glanced around her, shining the torch at every shadow she could find.

"I-I know…" She whispered softly. "But w-we can't go back! There might be more of those… those _things_…" Both girls jumped and screamed when a loud hiss came from the corridor ahead of them. Mei quickly shined the light into the passage.

Nothing.

Not a single creature coming at them. She gasped slightly when the hiss came again, and she shone the light into the passage again. And again she saw nothing. "What the… W-where's that coming from!?" She whispered as she kept the light focused on the passage.

"I-I don't kno…" Nutmeg's voice died out as she paled, becoming visible even in the darkness of the temple as she raised her hand and pointed to the side of the passage. Mei looked to where her friend was pointing, and nearly dropped her torch.

In the light cast into the passage, shadows were moving forwards at a slow pace. "They... They're… How can they be invisible!?" Nutmeg started backing away slowly. "H-how will we see them? "H-How will we even know they're…" Her voice died out as Mei raised the flashlight to the ceiling of the passage. Both of the girls froze.

A pack of ten of the creatures were advancing on the ceiling, each baring their fangs, letting drops of spit fall to the ground. They were coloured different shades of bronze, black and blue, but they all looked the same as the three creatures they ran from. Nutmeg dropped her staff and gasped loudly. The leader of the pack turned its sights on Mei, and uttered a loud hiss as it started to move faster. In a spur-of-the-moment attempt, Mei raised her broom in front of her and began chanting.

"_Omne Flammans Flamma Purgatus, Domine Extinctionis et Signum Regenerationis…_"

The creatures quickly spread out, walking on the walls of the passage as well, tails twirling threateningly behind them. The pack leader shrieked, revealing its second mouth.

"…_in Mea Manu Ens Inimicum Edat!_" Nutmeg fell to her knees as the pack charged, speeding at them at an unimaginable pace, nearing the exit to the bridge with each passing second. Just as they were about to exit the corridor, Mei finalized her chant.

"Flagrantia Rubi-" A loud shriek from behind caused her to jump and stop chanting, as the bronze creature from the previous room leapt from the shadows of the corridor behind the girls, ramming into Mei with its full force. The attack sent her flying forwards, losing her grip on her broom. She felt it slide from her hand as she hit the small wall on the side of the bridge.

She hardly had time to gather her wits, when the creature was upon her again. With an ear-piercing screech, it pulled its hand back and lashed out at her, knocking her clean over the railing and sending her plummeting into the shadows below with a loud scream.

The scream was loud enough to shake Nutmeg from her stupor, as she shot up straight, grabbed her staff and wheeled around to face the bronze creature. But with a collective screech, the ten creatures leapt from the corridor they were coming through, readying their tails and flexing their claws, and as Nutmeg spun around, the bronze creature in front of her attacked as well.

In the other room, the nameless soldier was hunched against a wall with a large wound on his chest, around the area of his heart. The last thing he heard before the darkness took him was two ear-piercing screams.

Two girls' screams…

* * *

"Takane…" Gondolfini called from the couch he was sitting on, stopping the blonde magistress in her tracks in front of the door. "Don't. You know you can't go to that temple."

Takane sighed. "I know." She said. "But something just doesn't feel right. I mean, think about it! A huge, ancient temple appears out of nowhere and we're supposed to believe there's no danger involved! It's ridiculous!"

"I know." Gandolfini sighed. "I'm a bit cynical about the idea myself. But you should know better than anyone that those two are more than capable of taking care of themselves." Takane's shoulders slumped.

"Trust me." Gandolfini assured her. "They'll be fine."

* * *

Mei groggily tried to open her eyes. Her head was pounding as hard and fast as her heart, and her body shook with pain. Although she couldn't see very clearly, she could make out that she was heading towards a brightly lit room, and that someone – or something – was dragging her there. _Nutmeg!_ She thought distressed and tried to sit up, only to feel a jolt of pain in her ribs and arm. She groaned softly, causing whatever was dragging her to hiss softly.

Her eyes shot open as she started sprawling, trying to get away. She knew that hiss. She knew what creature made it. Unfortunately, the grip the creature hand on her legs was too strong. She tried screaming, but her throat was dried out and she suddenly realized how thirsty she was. She was also incredibly tired, and her chest felt heavy. She was becoming very tired and out of breath.

As she tried to sit up again, rays of white light pierced her eyes and sent her flying onto her back again, gripping her eyes as the burning sensation lingered. Even with her eyes closed, the white light still stung them through her eyelids as she adjusted to being in the light again. Before she could register it, something picked her up by her shoulders and flung her forwards. She landed on her arm, causing a few cracks to come from it as she yelped in pain. She whimpered when she found herself lying between an assortment of bones and skulls.

Someone groaned from the corner of the room, and Mei looked around to find Nutmeg, bloody, bruised and crying in the corner of the room. "N-Nutmeg!" She whispered softly. Her friend looked up and Mei paled.

Three long, vertical wounds ran down the side of her face, through her eye and the top of her lip. Her nose seemed broken, as it was pointing a little to the left. Her arms and legs were covered in scratches, wounds and bruises, and her undamaged eye was beaten black. She also had a large, bloody hole in her shoulder.

Nutmeg gasped as she leant forward. "Mei! I… thought you were-" A loud screech echoed through the chamber as a dark gray creature leapt from an indent from one of the walls, slashing her across the face and sending her flying into the wall, crying out in pain. Several more of hisses and shrieks came from the shadows, as more creatures stepped into the light. Mei's hope disappeared as she counted.

_Thirteen… Fourteen…_

Fifteen. Fifteen creatures surrounding her and her friend, all hissing and shrieking threateningly. Suddenly, the light dimmed a bit to leave the room in an ominous, low-lit state. From the shadows around the source of the light, two more creatures stepped forward. Mei felt her breath leave her as she gazed upon them.

They were similar to the other creatures, but these beasts were enormous. Each towered eleven feet tall, casting terrifying shadows across the floor. Their heads lost the cylindrical aspect halfway to the back, where it sprouted into a large crest. These two creatures also had the longest tails of the pack, and their fangs were much sharper than those of their counterparts were. Both creatures spun around when a loud hiss came from the centre of the light source, and slowly they started walking towards Mei as she tried to crawl away, to no avail. One of them picked her up in its one hand, and the other stalked towards Nutmeg, making her scream uncontrollably. Mei tried to call out to her, but the large creature had tossed her into its other hand, blocking her view with it's bony chest.

The creature moved into the light, and dropped her on the floor in a pooled shadow that resembled that of a large insect. It quickly wrapped its tail around her, and raised her to face it. Mei whimpered as it bared its lips and made a sniffing sound as it moved its mouth up and down her body. Then it hissed loudly, and turned her forwards, then upwards… And Mei shrieked, a loud, terrified screech.

* * *

"Come on, dude." One man told his friend as they sat behind their computer screens in some kind of tech room. "The satellite's been in orbit for days over Mexico, Malaysia and now Japan. There's _nothing_, man. Let's call it a night."

His companion sighed. "Fine, fine… You win. Let's get outta h... Hang on… Hang on just a damn minute! What the hell is going on here!?" He cried as large groups of numbers appeared on one screen, and the lines on the other went haywire. "We got major disturbance around the rear of the satellite!"

* * *

A satellite in earth's orbit was slowly turning to the left, as it was picking up a large disturbance behind it. Not far from it, the stars were contorting and distorting slightly in a large area.

The satellite appeared on a red-hued screen, and a large red diamond with pointed tip singled in on its centre. In a flash, its schematics appeared on the sides of the screen, showing everything from the blueprint to the equipment.

With a few clicks and growls, a clawed hand quickly typed into a console, hitting numerous rune-like symbols on its interface as the red screen singled out a video device on board the satellite. With a few more clicks, the hands tapped on more symbols and the red triangle quickly changed to a blue one, consisting of three stripes.

With a sound of a device charging, two large, blue bolts fired from nowhere, heading straight at the satellite. In a large cloud of blue flames, the satellite was blown apart, with pieces of debris plummeting back into earth's atmosphere. With a soft, harsh sound, shades of blue appeared around the distorted area, growing rapidly until a large, alien craft came to view.

Within this craft, more growls, snarls and clicks came from the head pilot as the red screen zoomed in on a small island near a land labeled 'Japan' in rune-like glyphs. With a few more static sounds, another red triangle appeared and zoomed in on the small island, until schematics pictured a large pyramid on the side of the screen. Another view, this one different shades of gray, zoomed in on the burial chamber and revealed eighteen creatures with bony appearances and long, cylindrical heads. Another static sound, and the view changed to different shades of blue…

It showed two young girls in the monsters' clutches.

* * *

Mei felt she would faint at any time now. She was shaking so badly she didn't even feel it anymore. Her heart was beating so fast her chest hurt each time a beat shook her body. Before her, another one of the creatures regarded her warily. But this one wasn't like the rest…

This one had a crest like the one that was holding her now, but it ended in two pronged tips, hiding its real head underneath it. If the monster that was holding her was enormous, then there were no words to describe this one's size. Its one hand was about as large as she was, and it's crest towered above the mechanism holding it in place. It also had an extra pair of arms at the sides of its chest.

With a few loud sniffing sounds, the chained monster started to push its head out from under its armour as it drew its lips back, revealing two rows of long, sharp fangs, a few of them still covered by something similar to permafrost. The beast let out a tremendous screech, and the one holding her hissed as it stepped forwards, holding her head in its one hand. The closer Mei was brought to this creature, the faster she started breathing and the more rapidly her heart beat. She screamed, yelled, whined, and cried, but she could not turn her face away from the large monster in front of her. The other creature's grip was too strong. She gasped as her wind left her when she was brought mere inches away from the beast's face, giant compared to her own. In a slow motion, the creature opened its mouth, and its inner jaw opened and closed in anticipation. She heard Nutmeg scream loudly, and soon followed suit with her own, screaming loudly as this queen creature's second mouth shot forwards.

That was when another bright light surrounded her.

* * *

The lead pilot of the alien craft orbiting Earth growled loudly, coarse hairs fashioned into dreadlock cascading down its shoulders, its face still hidden by the darkness of space. With its clawed hand, it motioned towards more like him, sitting at terminals surrounding his small throne. They all typed furiously at their terminals.

At the very tip of the ship, a long barrel protruded. It traced all the way back into the ship, eventually splitting into four separate _zap_, a large, smoldering white beam shot forth at an impossible speed, heading straight towards the temple on the small island, followed by several more white bolts firing from the craft's sides.

* * *

The queen creature shrieked loudly, writhing and squirming in a berserk rage. In a blinding flash, its victims had simply disappeared, and it intended to break loose and find them.

But with an almighty rumble, a white beam of fire burned through the temple at an amazing speed, catching the queen creature in its blazing wake. The other creatures shrieked and writhed in pain as they felt their queen die.

In a mere moment, the blast disappeared, and their queen along with it. As the creatures lay on the floor in pain, another rumble is heard and the walls of the chamber are blasted away in another flash of bright blue.

* * *

The lead pilot roared in success as its dreadlocks flew all around its head. A gleam of a yellow iris flashed in the darkness, as the red screen zoomed out again, focusing on the land of Japan.

However, their victory was short lived as an emergency beacon reached them. The red triangle appeared and zoomed in again, this time on the centre of Japan. With three more static sounds, the screen centered on a place titled 'Mahora'. With more static sounds, it zoomed in on a tall building, and another image popped up. This image was also in differing shades of blue. But the pilot growled when it saw what was at the centre.

Another creature, similar to the ones in the temple, stood roaring at the screen. This one, however, was different in many aspects. It was for more muscular, and walked on its hind legs. But what irked the pilot the most about this beast were the four tusked mandibles surrounding its mouth, and the dreadlocks hanging from the sides of its head. With a loud growl, it dispatched two of its servants to take a message to its crew.

As the craft started disappearing again, ten loud, harsh sounds came from the ship.

And ten small spacecrafts headed towards Mahora.

* * *

"See the news?" A scientist asked as he entered the top floor of the science building.

"Yes. Yes I did…" Satomi Hakase replied softly as she gazed at the creatures imprisoned in the room before her. Slender, bony bodies, long cylindrical heads, no eyes, no nostrils, long ridged tails and sharp claws on their hands and feet, all shackled by electronic equipment at various areas of their bodies. "And just when we were so close to getting out hands on that queen…"

"Well, we do still have The Specimen, Hakase-san. There's still hope." The scientist replied again.

Satomi glared at the creature at the centre of the makeshift prison. It was much more muscular than its brethren, and tinted in dark green hues instead of the normal black, blue and bronze, and it had four mandibles circling its mouth, one at every corner. It also had black, hair-like appendages on the sides of its head. It glared at her and roared angrily.

"I understand someone set off a function of our Hunter-friends wrist computer?" She asked. "Find out who it was and have him report to me at once."

"Yes, Hakase-san." The scientist replied again and left.

_These creatures go against nature and science in every possible way…_ She thought solemnly. _They seem to be able to survive in nearly any condition, especially The Specimen. If we master these monsters… If we turn them to our side, imagine the possibilities! _She quickly turned around and left the top floor.

_But first… We need to __master our Hunter-friend's technology. Especially how its blades resisted its blood. If we master both… _She smirked slightly, _If only Chao-san could see me now…_

* * *

Near the edges of the Mahora Forest, a loud rustling came from the bushes. Something was running through them at a great speed. With a loud rush of wind, a barely visible silhouette leapt from the bushes, landing on one of the branches overlooking Mahora Campus. As patches of blue appeared on the silhouette, a large creature was revealed.

Its face was covered by a gray mask, with two lenses at the eyes a design similar to a human skull. The mask also covered its brow, and curved up onto its wide forehead, all the way to back of its cranium. Long, dreadlock-like appendages hung from the sides and back of its head, cascading down past its waist. The rest of its body was armoured on a few spots around its torso, shoulder, thighs, arms and legs, and a steel loincloth hung from its belt. Two large gauntlets were mounted on its arms, with short blades mounted on the undersides. A mesh of wires covered the parts of its body which were bare, revealing pasty skin with a few brown specks. A short, sharp steel stick protruded from a holster on its right shoulder, and a small, gun-like mechanism hung on its right.

With a flick of its arms the short blades extended, leaving the gauntlets with a long, jagged blade hanging from each. And with a mighty roar, the creature disappeared again as it leapt from the branch, headed towards the Mahora Science Building.

* * *

Mei heard the arguing before the light vanished. A young girl was arguing with an older man about something she couldn't make out. _Onee-sama…_ She thought weakly as the white light faded. For a moment, she stood on her own two legs, until she saw them. Until she saw their reaction.

Takane was smiling when the light had disappeared, but her expression changed into one of worry instantly when she saw her. Gandolfini's glass shattered as it slid from his hand, a look of disbelief on his face. And the mage named Michael Harrington's face twisted in horror when he saw her. The she started slipping back into the darkness, hearing Nutmeg cry loudly behind her. As she heard their startled cries, she realized the floor was coming closer to her face. And as she slammed onto the ground, her consciousness slipped.

Takane was first to get to Mei, quickly raising her head and crying her name. Harrington quickly turned to his apprentice. "Send for the healers! Now! We have no time to lose!"

"I thought you said there was no danger!!!" Takane accused him. "You'd said they'd be safe!"

"I was convinced it was! The reports said they would be!" He cried, quickly running over to assist Gandolfini with a hysterical Nutmeg, who kept mumbling that she was sorry and _the things_ nearly killed them. Takane turned back to Mei to examine her scars as the healer mages stormed in. Most her wounds were critical, and she saw a few broken bones as well.

But what puzzled her the most was the bite marks on Mei's forehead…

* * *

A/N: Love it? Hate it? Think I should delete it? Please, read and review and let me know what you think.

Huge thanks again to Traingham and Dragemenian Jew for their help and support while I was writing this.

Cheers!

_--Slipkn0T—_(author)


	2. 2 Jailbreak

Story summary:

When an old temple is found, its origins are believed to be from the Magical world. But when its prisoners escape and run free, their jailors make their appearance. How will Ala Alba survive a war between two unknown species? Negima x AVP crossover. I would've said so in the summary, but I ran out of space. If you're prone to react negatively to character deaths, M-rated violence or simply dislike the idea, don't read any further. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. First chapter Rated T, the rest probably M. Set after the Festival Arc of the manga. Again, thanks to Traingham and Dragemenian Jew for helping me with my Negima! research and motivating me to get this up. You guys are Awesome. Period.

NOTE: I take most material, like relationship statuses, honorific use and Pactio contracts from the Chapters between the end of the Mahora Festival and the Beginning of the Magical World arc. Please don't nail me to the wall for not being up to date with the manga in this fic…

CHAPTER 2

Jailbreak

"You're sure these are the last few shipments?" Satomi Hakase asked the scientist in front of her. "Sooner or later people are going to get suspicious of why a large chopper keeps landing here."

"I'm sure, Hakase-san." The scientist nodded solemnly. "The chopper heading here now is carrying the last shipment of specimens extracted from the temple. After this, we can finally pay them for that job, and we'll have more people guarding the top floors here."

"Good…" Satomi nodded as she turned her sights back to the creature in the room she was observing. It quickly turned its head at her, making its dreadlocks sway from side to side. "I understand it was quite a job to get it muzzled?"

"Very." The scientist replied. "We lost two scientists and about four mercenaries in the process." He glanced at the creature as well. "Exactly _what_ is that thing, Hakase-san?"

"We're still trying to pinpoint that." She stated. "From what we can gather, it shares a few traits with a snake, similar to the others, but this one is different. It's not like the others…" She studied the creature silently for a few moments. "The others are very skeletal beings." She continued. "Their skulls grow backwards in a cylindrical manner, but this one's is much shorter. We also need to find a rational theory as to why it has those dreadlocks. But the four mandibles around its mouth and the small crest at the back of its head intrigue me most…" A slight shifting sound came from behind them, and another scientist entered.

"I'm sorry to intrude, Hakase-san," he apologised quickly, "but I have a report of what happened with Project X2's wrist bracer." Satomi quickly nodded, urging him on. "From the scientists' reports, it started functioning again as one of them was working on it. Apparently, certain glyphs started appearing on the small screens, and the device started beeping. After a few seconds, it stopped, and it seems as if nothing dire happened." Satomi nodded again.

"Move the bracer and X2's remains two levels higher, and ensure only the top ranking scientists and experts get near it. We can't have some of the less experienced ones messing this up." She ordered. The scientist quickly nodded, and left.

"Any luck removing X2's mask?" The other scientist asked.

"None." Satomi huffed, turning back to the dreadlocked creature. "Unlike X here, X2 wasn't caught in the permafrost chamber. Its body aged just as any other person's would, hence the fragile bones and lack of flesh and blood for us to test. We did, however, get a rough estimate of how old X2 is." She said with a smirk.

"It's age?" The scientist asked.

"Thirteen thousand two-hundred and forty-five years old." Satomi grinned. "These beings have existed since the first records of civilization. Maybe even before that…"

* * *

With a groan, Mei Sakura slowly opened her eyes, quickly trying to adjust the low lighting of the environment she found herself. With difficulty, she raised herself into a sitting position and slowly rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands. She quickly glanced around, but her vision was still slightly blurry.

"It's about time you woke up." A voice came from in front of her. "You had us all very worried." She looked up as her vision started to become clear, and saw Takane Goodman's outline standing in front of her.

"Huh… Onee-sama?" She quickly rubbed her eyes again, and her vision became clear. She saw Takane standing there with a smile on her face. "Onee-sama!"She cried out happily. "You won't believe what ha-" Her voice died out in her throat and her eyes widened when she saw where she was as she quickly glanced around her. Around her, dark walls and corridors stretched endlessly, with unknown glyphs, runes and images covering them. Mei choked slightly.

She was back at the temple. The temple where the creatures attacked her. She gasped loudly, as she quickly turned back to face Takane. Her face lost all colour when she saw a large pool of blood where Takane was standing. Without thinking, she scrambled up onto her legs and quickly started running down the corridor as fast as her legs would carry her. She squealed softly when she heard several hisses come from behind her, and she ran faster, glancing back to see how far behind her the creatures were. She started slowing down slightly, and looked in front of her again.

At that moment, something black shot forwards out of the shadows, knocking her onto her back. Two strong, skeletal hands pinned her down to her ground, and the claws at the tips of its feet tore at her thighs. With a loud scream, she opened her eyes to see it was one of the creatures that was pinning her down, Several others were closing in at a rapid pace, and Mei screamed again just as the beast's inner jaw shot forwards.

* * *

"_Mei…"_

"Mei!!!"

Takane's cries, and the sudden illumination of her surroundings, caused her to shoot into a sitting position, crying loudly and panting heavily. Her eyes fell on Takane, still clad in her PJs, and with a singular motion, she shot forwards and grabbed her around her waist, muttering inaudible words through her tears. Takane slumped down onto the small bed while comforting her underling, a shocked expression plastered on her features as Gandolfini and Harrington entered.

"What happened?" Harrington asked as he looked from Mei to Takane, and back again.

"What does it look like?" Takane snapped angrily. "She had a nightmare." Harrington looked at her sternly.

"There's no need for hostility, Miss Goodman. I simply asked a question."

"And I gave you a fair enough answer!" Takane said sharply. "This is all because you sent her to that damned temple!"

"I told you, there was no way we could have-"

"Enough! Please…" Gandolfini raised both hands promptly silenced the argument. "You two aren't helping her calm down…" Takane suddenly realised that Mei's grip had tightened around her, and she felt her back start to ache. She shot a poisonous glance at Harrington, and with a few soft words, ushered Mei back into her small bed. Mei still shook violently, and her whole body was covered in sweat. She quickly took a seat at the end of the bed, as Gandolfini and Harrington each dragged chairs closer to the bed.

"Miss Natsume is still unconscious, so you're probably the only witness for now." Harrington said softly, ignoring Takane's angry glances. "I think, Miss Sakura, that it's time you told us exactly what happened in that temple."

* * *

Konoka Konoe mumbled something inaudible as she woke up, quickly rubbing her eyes and sitting upright after hearing the a soft from where the door to the room was. Asuna stood there with a goofy smile, seemingly back from her paper dilveries.

"Sorry there, Konoka…" She smiled. "I was a bit too eager to get back…"

"It's okay Asuna…" Konoka yawned. "I was going to wake up anyway… Where's Negi-kun?"

"Still sleeping…" Asuna frowned as she pointed up to her bunk, where Negi lay fast asleep. "He invited himself up there again during the night…" She grumbled, making Konoka chuckle. A sudden loud _thump_ from above them drew their attention. Two more _thump_s followed, and they heard soft footsteps on the dorm's roof. Then there was silence.

"What was that?" Konoka asked, not averting her gaze from the ceiling.

"Probably just one of Sakurako-san's cats." Asuna shrugged. "Heaven knows what she feeds them these days…"

"Oh well." Konoka smiled as she stood up. "I'll get started on breakfast."

* * *

Outside their room, three vague silhouettes silently moved across the rooftops of the dorm building. Every now and then, one could just barely be seen glancing down the sides of the building, observing the students who were awake already.

"_Heaven knows what she feeds them these days…_" A voice came from below them, making one of the two other silhouettes growl softly. The leader silhouette uttered a louder growl at its comrades, and started darting across the rooftops, followed by the others, quickly heading towards the Mahora Science building.

* * *

"Hey, Konoka?" Asuna called as she sat at the table. "What was that thing about the old temple in the news? It's plastered all over the papers today."

"Uh, from what I heard," Konoka called from the small kitchen, "They say satellites found an old temple off the coast of Japan. But before they could do anything, something destroyed it."

"Huh?" Asuna glanced at the kitchen.

"Some people say it was some kind of meteor shower. Others say it was a bomb of sorts. But the fact still remains that most of the island it was on is gone now. There's only a few rocks left where it was…"

"Weird…" Asuna looked away. A slight mumble behind her drew her attention, and she saw Negi sitting up in her bunk. "About time." She frowned as Konoka entered. With a groan, Negi started rubbing his eyes.

"Morning Asuna-san…Konoka-san…" He muttered as he stumbled out of bed. Konoka giggled.

"He must have rested well seeing as you didn't beat him awake again…" Asuna frowned.

"I didn't have the time." She huffed. "I overslept… say, Negi?" She turned to face the boy. "Konoka tells me about a temple satellites found on an island near Japan. Know anything about it?"

Negi stopped eating for a moment. "From what I can gather, a satellite did pick up heat signatures from a temple near here, but links to it was lost shortly after." He said before taking another bite of his breakfast.

"So it was lost in space?" Asuna asked with a bored expression. Negi nodded in affirmation, before swallowing his food.

"The news reports say it blew up."

"In the middle of space?"

"It's not impossible…"

"Great." Asuna said, resting her chin on her hand. "So the mages weren't responsible…"

"Why are we talking about this all of a sudden?" Negi asked.

"I have no idea…" Asuna answered. "Just the usual morning chatter, I suppose…"

* * *

"Dammit, hide the gun!"

"Fuckin' make me!"

The usual morning calm over the Mahora Forest quickly dissipated as three loud voices thundered over the noise of a large helicopter quickly whirring over it. It was flying at a low altitude, and was causing the trees to sway in the wind the rotors were kicking up. "It's seven in the morning during the damn winter break." A man in the door of the helicopter called at the two pilots. "Who the hell would be here, in a forest, at that time, and during the school break!?"

"It's still a risk!" The pilot yelled. "Hakase will have us skinned if we're compromised!"

"We won't be…" The pilot called arrogantly, but he still disappeared from the doorway. He whistled as he strode to the back of the helicopter, where a large steel container was held in place by thick, black chains. "We're gonna get one helluva bonus for securing the last few specimens for that nerd…"

"How many eggs were there?" The one pilot called.

"There were eight, but one was empty so there's seven eggs in here now, all nicely preserved in some kind of ice for us." He grinned. "Though we are in for one helluva ass-kicking when we get back…"

"What? Why?"

"The empty egg supposedly held a very unique implanter, some kind of leader organism that gets created by it." The man's face fell.

"And let me guess: Hakase wanted that more than anything?" The pilot raised an eyebrow. "Trust you to let that happen… I swear you're gonna get us all fi – What the fuck!?" The pilot quickly jerked back on the controls of the helicopter, tilting it backwards just in time as a smouldering blue projectile shot from the forest. "What the hell was that!?"

"Shut up and fly!" The man yelled at he stood at the doorway and fired into the forest with his rifle. "Eat this you piece of –" A sharp, steel projectile hit the man square between the eyes, causing blood to stream down his face as he toppled out of the chopper.

"Oh shit…" The one pilot screamed. "Evasive manoeuvres!" He called to the other. "Get ready to bank in any direction, and keep your eyes – SHIT!" He tugged at the controls again, but he was too late. Another blue projectile came searing at them, and the whole helicopter shook as it blew the rear rotor clean off, leaving a large hole in the back of the helicopter's roof. "We're going down! Mayday! Mayday!" The pilot called into the radio. "We're going…" His voice died out in mid sentence and his eyes grew wide as he and his co-pilot saw a third blue projectile – heading straight at the cockpit. "Oh, SHI-" In a blaze of blue and orange, the cockpit exploded and the helicopter careened out of control, smashing into a large tree before plummeting into the forest in a cloud of black.

* * *

"Hakase-san! Hakase-san!" A scientist squeezed through the blast doors as soon as they would allow him to. "The last chopper was just shot down over the forest!" Satomi quickly whipped her head in his direction.

"What!? When?"

"A few minutes ago!" He cried. "That chopper was carrying seven embryo specimens, Hakase-san! Who knows what our enemy could… could…" Satomi quickly raised a hand to silence him.

"Send a team of the mercenaries to investigate and retrieve the specimens. Whoever is trying to get their hands on them must not succeed."

"Yes, Hakase-san." The scientist bowed quickly and left. Satomi turned her attention back to the tinted window in front of her, and with the flip of a switch, the blackness evaporated and let her see into the room. Before her, the specimen she had titled Project X was still struggling against its captors despite the sleeping gas. _Where do you get all your strength?_ She thought as she intently studied the beast. _We've had this room gassed for twenty minutes… How do you hold out!?_ The beast suddenly stopped squirming and looked towards one of the walls. _What now?_ She thought as she leaned forward on the table in front of her. _What do you see!? _

* * *

Several loud crackles of electricity came from the wreckage of the helicopter as flames and smoke tinted the sky above Mahora forest odd shades of orange and gray. Several pieces of debris, including pieces of steel and glass with an odd blue tinge to it, surrounded the deep skid to where the chopper lay in a twisted mess of wires, steel and fire. Several of the flame licked at the foliage around the wreck, causing even more fires to dot the area.

A few feet from the wreck, a large steel container was perched on a small rock protruding from the ground, making it stand at an angle. Several broken chains surrounded it, while more traced back to where the helicopter crashed. The lid on the container was open, and inside lay six eggs, each wet with small pieces of frost still stuck to them. One egg had half of it burned away, allowing a dark green liquid to eat away at the floor. The other six were all open, with four triangular pointing in each direction.

Farther away, an odd spider-like creature with long tail quickly skittered into the forest, followed closely by five more. Each one was heading towards the Mahora campus.

* * *

"Now who could be knocking here at this time?" Konoka wondered aloud as several loud, impatient knocks sounded at their door.

"We just got dressed…" Asuna fumed. "Can't these people at least wait till we leave?"

"I'll go check." Negi said as rushed to the door.

"Negi-sensei!" Two young girls chorused at him as the door opened. _Great…_ Asuna thought with a grimace. _The Narutaki Twins… What could they want at this –_

"Something crashed in the forest!" Fuka Narutaki, the elder of the twins, quickly cried. "Something big! It's causing tons of smoke!"

"A group of students already went in…" Fumika, the younger twin, said. "They refused to wait up for the teachers. That's why we came here!" Each of them grabbed one of Negi's and started dragging him out of the door. "That's why you have to come! Hurry!"

"All right, all right, I'm on my way…"

* * *

"Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Satomi was quickly losing her cool as she observed the screen before her. Several students already bordered around the edge of the forest, gasping, clasping hands over their mouths and pointing fingers at the centre of the forest. "How did it get to this!?" She turned to the armed man behind her. "I thought your men were the best!"

"They are." The man said, stepping out of the shadows. He had messy, dark brown hair and a large goatee, as well as a black tattoo running down the side of his face. "But the pilot wasn't one of my men. It was one of your weak researchers." He folded his arms, making the plates of steel on his upper arms and chest glint in the light.

"I don't pay you to throw accusations around." Satomi hissed. "When are your men going to get there?" The man looked at the screen.

"Right now." He said as he pointed at it. Fifteen men carrying large cases and donning leather coats were quickly heading towards one of the groups of people around the forest. "How many were in the container?"

"Seven." Satomi sighed. "Those imbeciles lost the queen carrier at the temple…"

"Well, don't fret, Hakase-san." The man said stoically as he left the room. "My men will get the rest back – or kill them trying. No one will find out about this…"

_I hope you're right, Corban-san…_ She thought as she uttered a sigh and turned back to the screen. _There's a lot more than a simple paycheque on the line here…_

* * *

A rather grisly sight met Negi's eyes as he and the Narutaki twins, followed closely by Asuna and Konoka, approached the edge of the forest. Fifteen men in trench coats were interrogating a group of students. He managed to overhear a part of their conversation as he neared them.

"How many went in?"

"A-About five or six…"

"Do you have any names?"

"Y-Yes…" The boy stammered. "I know the one pair. Eiko and Naoya. They led the others in… Something about helping any survivors… A-are we done?"

"Excuse me." Negi quickly interrupted. "Might I know what you're doing here?"

"Bug off, kid." The man said sternly. "This isn't your business."

"I'm employed here, so it is my business." Negi said defensively, causing some of the other men to laugh loudly. The leader sat on his haunches to meet him eye-to-eye.

"Well, I'm not. At least, not permanently." He said as he reached inside his coat. "I was employed by the headmaster here. There seems to be a disturbance in the forest." He handed Negi the slip of paper.

Negi's eyes widened a bit when he saw that the paper indeed held Dean Konoe's permission for the men to enter the campus and go into the forest, as well as gather information from students who see anything suspicious. It even had the Konoe Seal and his signature on it…

"This doesn't make sense…" He muttered as he handed the letter to Konoka.

"Why would grandpa allow this?" She asked herself.

"I really don't care." The man replied. "All I know is, we need to find out what happened there," he said as he pointed to the pillar of smoke at the centre of the forest, "and currently, you kiddies are in our way." He frowned. "So lay off and let us do our job." He said as he turned and headed towards the forest, motioning for the others to follow. "Just stay outta the forest, kid. We don't want you and your… _students_ getting hurt…"

"Hey, hold on!" Negi called after the leader. "What's your name?"

"That's confidential. Now leave me the fuck alone, little boy. Before I lose my cool…" He said as he and his men disappeared into the forest.

"This just doesn't make sense!" Negi said. "Why would the headmaster employ so many guards when he has Tatsumiya-san and Setsuna-san? Why?"

"I think we should go ask him…" Konoka said. "This does seem weird…" Negi looked down to the piece of paper in his hand, inspecting the Konoe seal.

"Let's go, then. We need to find out what's going on…"

* * *

"Are you okay, sempai?" Naoya asked as he helped Eiko over a fallen tree. "You seem pretty shaken after that fall."

"It's nothing…" She muttered as she quickly brushed her knee with her hand. "Just a stumble."

"Will you two lovebirds hurry up?" A boy from the group ahead of them called. "Jeez, you gathered us to go help any survivors, now you're holding us back. What the hell-" A sudden rustle from a large bush near him cut him off. "Looks like we found someone already! What luck." He smiled. "Hello? Anyone the-" A pale figure suddenly shot out from the bush and clamped around his face, making Eiko and the other two girls shriek and run in different directions.

"Sempai!" Naoya cried as he ran to the fallen boy. "Hold up!" He quickly pushed all the foliage out of his way in a bid to find the source of the muffled screams, and quickly found the boy squirming on the ground, pinned down by…

_Some kind of insect!?_ He thought as he recoiled at the sight of the thing. It was like some kind of spider, with two pouches behind its legs and a long tail that was currently wrapped around the boy's throat. Several shrieks around him drew his attention.

"Sempai? Eiko! Are you okay!?" He glanced around him as several other shrieks drifted across the shrubbery. The other boy quickly stepped closer to him. "

"Those were the other two…" He panted. "What the hell is going on!?"

"Does it look like I know!?" Naoya yelled. "This can't be happening… This can't be-"

"LOOK OUT!" The other boy cried with wide eyes as he pointed behind Naoya and ducked out of the way. Just as he spun around he saw another one of the spider leaping straight at him, and just barely raised his hands to stop it, but it was in vain. The insect's tail shot forward and wrapped around his throat and tightened, strangling him and causing him to topple backwards onto the ground.

"Naoya-san! Hold on!" The other boys desperately cried as he started tugging at the spider. Naoya felt his strength leave him as his consciousness started slipping. The other boy's cries started to become softer and softer, and just as he saw another spider seize the boy's face, his strength left and he felt four legs clamp around his head. Then there was nothing.

* * *

"How many disturbances did you say there was?" Konoemon Konoe asked as he turned around. Evangeline McDowell and Mana Tatsumiya stood before him with serious looks on their faces.

"Ten." Evangeline replied. "Ten disturbances in the barrier. And all of them came from the sky." She frowned. "They can't be mages, because I can't sense them anymore." The dean started stroking his beard again.

"Do you have something relevant to report too, Tatsumiya-san?"

"A large chopper has been coming and going here for a few days now. Each time it lands on a different area, but the chests it delivered were all moved to the science building. Recently, there's also been a lot of activity on the top floors of the building. I've also seen them load bodybags into a car and drive off in the middle of the night."

"This can't all be coincidence." Evangeline said with a bored expression. "Those people are up to something." Just then Shizuna entered the room.

"I'm sorry to intrude, Headmaster, but Negi-sensei and your granddaughter would like a word with you on an important matter." The dean slowly nodded.

"Send them in."

"Should we leave?" Mana asked.

"No." The dean replied. "If this is such an important matter, it must tie with what you've told me." At that moment the door opened and Negi stepped in, followed closely by Asuna and Konoka. His eyes slightly widened when he saw Evangeline.

"What's wrong, boya? Scared all of a sudden?" She smirked. Negi gulped.

"I'm sorry for the intrusion, headmaster." He said. "But I found a group of foreigners interrogating students at the edge of the forest. Something crashed there this morning, and they were questioning students about what happened." Mana immediately shifted her gaze to Negi.

"Something crashed?"

"Yes, it's causing a large cloud of smoke above the forest." Negi said. "And I was hoping that you could clarify this." He said as he placed the slip of paper on the dean's desk. "The people said you gave them permission." Eva and Mana both raised an eyebrow at this. The dean quickly scanned the slip of paper and frowned. Then he turned to Mana.

"Tatsumiya-san, find Sakurazaki-san and go into the forest after these men. You'll be paid double your normal rate. Negi-kun," he turned to face the boy with a stern gaze. "You need to go to the Science Building and see whether Hakase-san knows anything."

"W-What's going on?" Konoka stammered. Konoemon frowned again. "I gave no such orders or permissions." He said as he tossed the page back onto his desk. "That note is a forgery.

* * *

"Hook, line and fuckin' sinker!" The leader of the fifteen-man group of mercenaries called as he drew his rifle from his case and ordered the others to do the same as they approached the source of the smoke pillar. "Kids these days are _so_ easy to fool!"

"Just be glad Hakase knows such good forgers, man…" Someone spoke out of the group. "We'd have been roasted by that little teacher without that note…"

"You really think that tyke's a teacher? Get real." The leader smirked.

"Guys…" One of the scouts called. "I think we should get alert too…" He said as he motioned for them to come closer. Before them, the smouldering wreck of the helicopter was spread out across the clearing.

"Take aim!" The leader yelled. "Fire at will. We need to secure the contents of that container… Move out!" Each mercenary quickly filled into the clearing, surrounding the remains of the chopper while aiming at their surroundings. The leader quickly approached what was left of the container, and examined its contents. "Shit!" He cried loudly. Two of his mercenaries turned their attention to him. "Contact Corban and tell him we need backup! Six facehuggers have escaped and are loose in the forest! Tell him to send as many men as possible!" The two men nodded and quickly ran off. "The rest of you, on me! Stay alert!" He yelled as he headed into the forest again.

Unbeknownst to them, an area far above them, between the branches, was slightly disoriented. The sharp light penetrating through the branches revealed a silhouette tracing them across the treetops.

"Fan out!" The leader cried. "Five meter spread, shoot to kill!" He turned his attention to his front. "Those fucking xenos aren't getting outta here alive…" He muttered as he pressed the stock of his rifle to his shoulder.

"I may have a trail!" One of the soldiers called. "Some gooey stuff here, looks like a facehugger's ecto-whatchacallit." The leader quickly huffed and looked at the soldier, and his eyes widened under his goggles.

Three red dots had appeared on the mercenary's back. "Garth, GET DOWN!" He yelled.

"Wha?" The mercenary haphazardly turned around just as a harsh, soft _bang_ came from above them. Just as he looked up, a glowing, blue bolt hit him straight in the chest. An a flash of blue and red, blood coated the foliage and ground around him as his upper body was blown to bits, pieces of flesh flying everywhere.

"SHIT! TAKE COVER!" The leader yelled as he dove behind a tree. _What the fuck was that!?_ Another mercenary uttered a loud scream, but was promptly silenced as his head detached from his body and fell to the ground as an arc of blood squirted upward from his neck. _The fuck!?_ The leader quickly tugged his gun in the fallen mercenary's direction and let loose with a rain of lead, chipping the trees and cutting up the shrubbery. But nothing else fell. Nothing else died.

Several more screams rose around the leader, some accompanied by loud growls and clicks. Several more _bangs_ sounded in the distance, and each time the leader could see blood flying in all directions. _Shit shit shit! _He grunted as several loud clicks came from his gun. He was sown to at least a squad of three or four, judging by the screams and cries of terror he heard. "Form up! FORM UP!" He yelled as he heard his last soldiers run at him through the foliage. He immediately caught sight of one, struggling with the machinegun he was lugging around.

"What the fuck is going on!? _What is this thing!?_" Before the leader could answer, he felt his throat dry up as the soldier's arm and head went flying, allowing more blood to fly freely. Some landed on him. More landed on something solid – in mid-air – and remained there. Only then did the leader see the silhouette.

With a loud cry, the leader drew his handgun and fired at it. "DIE, YOU MOTHERFUCKER, DIE!" He yelled as he shot round after round. The first two impacted with steel as they ricocheted off the figure, but the rest cut through wood and plants. Two more screams made the leader realise he was shooting at nothing, and now his entire team was dead. _Oh shit…_ He thought as he quickly reloaded his handgun. _Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…_ He glanced around him again. "Show yourself! You pussy!" He cried at the trees. A loud growl somewhere behind him cause him to spin around and fire twice, chipping a tree in two places.

_Shit!_ He thought as he started shaking. _This ain't no fucking xeno!_ A small area next him distorted, and with a loud _snikt_, both his arms came off right under his elbows before he even realised it. With a defeated cry, he fell to the ground in pain. He had nothing left. No team, no weapons, no arms… He felt something's foot turn him onto his back, and once in the light pouring into the forest, he clearly saw the figure again.

It growled loudly as it kneeled next to him, and several blue spots appeared. They grew in size, revealing dull, gray steel and pale flesh covered by some kind of mesh. In a second, his attacker was fully visible and his voice died out in his throat. Two lens-covered eyes stared at his, connected by a small bridge above an upright rectangle and sunken cheeks. A strong brow arched into a wide forehead, extending all the way to the back of its head as black dreadlocks decorated with silver and gold cascaded down its back and shoulders, one of which held a small gun-like gadget. With a loud click, the creature tilted its head and observed him.

"X2…" His voice finally returned. "No… You're dead… You can't be here, you're dead!" He cried as the creature reached out and grabbed his jaw with a pale hand dotted with brown spots. "The fuck are you doing!? Let me go!" The creature growled loudly and raised its other arm, and with a flick of its wrist, two long serrated blades slid from its gauntlet. It growled again and brought its arm down with speed, aiming the tips of the blades at his face, and the leaders world went dark.

* * *

"I dunno about this…" Asuna muttered as she followed Negi to the science building. "This all seems too weird. I mean, first something crashes in the forest, then those men appear out of nowhere, Tatsumiya-san sees a helicopter coming and going, and now the dean's been framed!"

"I know, Asuna-san…" Negi muttered. "I can't figure it out either."

"Satomi-chan should know something." Konoka said. "I mean, everything that helicopter carried was taken to the science building. She must have seen _something_."

"Let's hope you're right, Konoka-san." Negi muttered. "If they'd go as far as forging the dean's signature, this must be quite serious…"

* * *

Blood mixed with grass and the steel form of a weapon as bodies surrounded the Mahora science building, each hidden from sight, very hard to notice in the early morning light. A few feet from them, a grate had been scratched open, and several loud hisses came from the inside just as a black, ridged tail with a spike on its tips disappeared down the shaft.

* * *

"Ah, there it is." Negi said as they started down a long road to the science building. It towered over the rest of the buildings, and its name was lit by several lights. Several of the windows were already illuminated with light, but the top five floors were still dark.

"I wonder whether Eva-chan's right…" Asuna said.

"About what?" Konoka asked.

"The whole thing about this 'not being a coincidence'."

"There's only one way to be sure, and that's to investigate and find out." Negi said.

"I hope Set-chan is alright with her mission…" Konoka muttered as she glanced at the forest. 'I don't like those men…"

* * *

With grunt, Setsuna quickly cleaved at the shrubs and large bushes in front of her wither sword, while Mana closely followed with her rifle at her shoulder. "I don't see why these men would be interested in a simple helicopter crash." Setsuna growled as a stray fern softly slapped her in the face. "And I don't see why they had to choose this particular route!" She snapped as she quickly lopped off two more ferns before they could touch her. Mana smirked as she used her rifle to comb through the foliage.

"You don't seem to like this part of the forest much…" She said.

"Yes, well, you're bound to become frustrated when leaves keep smacking you in the face." She said as she pulled a pine needle out of her hair and flicked it aside.

"I think I know the real reason…" Mana smirked as she took the lead, allowing Setsuna to pull several more needles from her uniform. "You're just frustrated because you're not at your precious Ojou-sama's side…" Setsuna's face flared up.

"T-Tatsumiya-san! That's – That's not it at all!" She quickly stuttered. "It's just… just…"

"Relax, Setsuna." Mana smirked. "It's really not that bad that you're head over heels with her…"

"Tatsumiya-san!" Setsuna whined as her blush increased.

"You just need to worry what will happen if the headmaster finds out." Setsuna gulped audibly at hearing this.

"B-But he'll… he'll-"

_**BANG!!!**_

A loud explosion sounded ahead of them, and a bright, blue flash quickly pierced through the bushes, causing them to raise a hand to shield their eyes. In a minute, it died out and fresh smoke quickly rose through the foliage. Mana narrowed her eyes and quickly darted forwards, and Setsuna followed suit, holding her sword at the ready.

"What was that?" Setsuna quickly asked as they sped to the area of the explosion.

"I don't know…" Mana said as she quickly readied her rifle. "Just stay alert."

They quickly entered the small clearing, and quickly glanced around. "This is odd… These look like helicopter parts…" Setsuna said softly. "But where's the helicopter?" She glanced around her and saw only small bits of steel, as well as small, sharp shards. "Isn't this where the smoke came from?"

"That helicopter was here, all right." Mana said as she kneeled next to a large crater n the clearing. "I think it was right here…" She said as she scanned the crater. "But it's not here anymore… Strange…"

"Think that explosion had anything to do with it?" Setsuna asked as she edged closer to the crater.

"Looks like it." Mana said as she touched some of the scorched ground around the crater with a piece of steel. A loud scorching sound came from the area. "Whatever did this did one hell of a job…"

"Magic?" Setsuna asked.

"No. This was something else." Mana replied. "Something very strong…" She quickly glanced around. "We should look around for anything suspicious." She said, moving to the side of the clearing. "If those men were here, there's bound to be trace of them somewhere…"

* * *

Satomi smirked as she entered the small, makeshift cell. The creature she had named Project X lazily raised its head and glared at her through the steel muzzle resting on the front half of its face. Its skeletal hands immediately clenched into fists at the sight of her.

"Ooh, a bit hostile, aren't we, boy?" She cooed as she stood in front of the colossal creature. It immediately started squirming and writhing in a desperate attempt to claw at her. "Drop it, X. Those locks are electronically stabilised at every joint. As long as we have power, you're not getting out." She said as three other scientists entered.

"We managed to remove X2's mask, Hakase-san." One of them informed her. "By doing so, we have pinpointed exactly where X got those dreadlocks and mandibles." He said as he handed a small PDA to her. She quickly flicked through the images.

"This can't be…" She said softly.

"It is." He nodded. "We have confirmed that X, unlike the other xenomorphs, was born from a creature similar to X2. The damage to X2's lower anatomy was inflicted by X's tail, meaning that X and X2 fought prior to X's entrapment in the permafrost chamber."

"So that means X could be even older than X2…" Satomi nodded. "This is brilliant. Have you deduced why X's blood doesn't affect X2's armour and weaponry?"

"No, Hakase-san. But we have finally learned how X2's shoulder cannon works."

"Go on…"

"From what we can gather, there's a small reactor inside the works up some kind of plasma projectile. It's strong enough to knock through cars and walls, and can fly very, very far. It's only drawback is that the plasma blot travels quite slowly."

"What else?"

"There's a laser targeting device mounted on the side of the mask that directs where the gun aims. The mask has access to different vision modes that-" A loud _bang_ and a few electric sounds cut the scientist off.

The lights suddenly shut down, leaving the small cell in relative darkness.

* * *

Somewhere outside the building, a long, ridged tail was retracting back into the darkness caused by the building's shadow, leaving a sparking power terminal in its wake. With a loud his, a black, clawed hand cut open the one ventilation shaft, and a bony, black creature quickly shot into it.

The bodies of three scientists littered the ground floor of the science building, allowing blood to pool around the various pieces of machinery and furniture. Several areas sent ripples across the pools as footprint appeared on them, as a barely visible figure was moving towards one of the staircases. With a loud bang, the lights suddenly died out. The figure uttered a few loud clicks and growls, and appeared, revealing a tall humanoid creature with long dreadlocks, pale skin covered by armour in various places, and a gilled mask covering its face and the top of its head. It quickly glanced around, and the lens over its eyes shone twice. Then it turned back to the stairs and started moving up them.

Satomi's breathing immediately increased as she turned around and looked at X, just in time to hear a loud _clang_ and see its one hand break loose from the shackle. The creature glared at her, before using its free hand to tear away the muzzle on its mouth.

"Hakase, RUN!" The scientists yelled as he dove for X's free hand, only to be slashed across the throat. Satomi watched in horror as the scientist's blood coloured the ceiling and walls as his body fell to the floor. A strong hand around her arm tugged her away from the scene as she whipped around.

"Corban! What's hap-"

"The fifteen men I sent into the forest were all slaughtered by something they couldn't see." He said as he quickly lead her out of the block. Several loud hisses came from the rooms around them, and long, black, cylindrical heads collided with the glass in the windows, cracking them considerably. "There are more, more like X2." Corban panted as he led Satomi by the arm. "More of them who can turn invisible, and more of them with those guns! All of them are coming here, so we need to get you out!" He said as he ran into a group of armed men. "Cover us! We need to get Hakase-san out of here!" A loud crash followed by several loud screams echoed through the hall behind them, making Satomi whip her head around in fright. She froze when she saw what was at the other end of the hallway.

The group of men were all dead, fresh coats of red decorating the walls and floor. And the creature called X stood at the centre of it all, baring its teeth and glaring right at her.

* * *

"I found footprints." Setsuna called to Mana. "Heading this way, into the forest." Mana quickly walked over to her and observed the prints.

"They're from combat boots." She said. "The men were heading this way."

"Then we're heading this way too." Setsuna said as she quickly combed more ferns aside with her sword. "Do you know if they were armed?"

"They probably are." Mana said. "They're not here for a stroll…"

"But what would normal mercenaries want on Mahora?"

"I have no idea." Mana frowned. "This is very unusual. Normally it's demons we deal with, not normal mer…" She became quiet when she felt something wet drip onto her shoulder. She slowly turned her head, and saw a growing red spot on her jacket. Then she looked up, and her eyes widened slightly.

"Setsuna…" She called.

"Hmmm?" Setsuna stopped fighting through the bushes and turned to face Mana.

"We need to get out of here." She said, still looking up. "Something's very wrong in this forest…" She pointed upwards, and Setsuna looked up.

"Oh, my…" Setsuna's voice died out in her throat.

Above them, thirteen corpses dangled in the trees, all skinned as streams and droplets of blood fell from the gaping holes where their necks should be. In the centre of the display, several human skulls were displayed on one of the branches, all covered by blood and loose pieces of flesh and skin, some with their spines still attached. Setsuna slowly looked down and met Mana's eyes as she spoke.

"Run."

* * *

"Hey!" Asuna called as all the lights in the science building went off. "You guys see that?"

"Yes…" Negi said. "How odd… There's always a room that's illuminated in that building…"

"Think the power tripped?" Konoka asked.

"Could be… We should hurry."

* * *

X slowly started walking towards Satomi, its tail swaying behind it in a hypnotic manner. She couldn't find the strength to move her legs, and Corban was still struggling to pry the doors open. The creature hissed and growled, clicking its mandibles in a way that made it seem angry.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Corban yelled as he kicked the door. "It won't budge!" He quickly turned to face X again, drawing his knife as he did so.

"Are you insane!?" Satomi shrieked. "You can't fight it!"

"Well, we can't fucking run from it either!" He yelled. "How the-"

_**CRASH!!!**_

The glass in the walls of the rooms shattered in all directions as eleven more creatures like X, albeit skinnier and lacking the dreadlocks and mandibles landed on the floor, hissing loudly. X quickly glanced at them as a swarm of tailed spiders also filled from the opening.

"Shit!" Corban cried, clasping a hand over his mouth. "Facehuggers!"

"That's… that's almost all of them!" Satomi cried as she watched the large swarm of facehuggers escape into the vents. "All seventy-five specimens!"

"Shit…" Corban hissed as X came closer. It was now hardly ten feet from them. It quickly looked back and growled loudly, and the other creatures followed the facehuggers down the vents, leaving it alone with Corban and Satomi. It slowly edged closer, and a few knocks sounded on the door.

"Boss! You there?" A voice called.

"About fucking time you got here!" Corban yelled as X growled angrily. It started walking faster, coming closer. Satomi and Corban instinctively back up against the door.

"Hold on boss, we're gonna cut through!" The voice yelled.

"It's three feet away and closing…" Satomi muttered. "We're not going make it…"

"Just shut up…" Corban growled. "I don't need your whining making my death any worse. I already lo-"

_**BANG!!!**_

The ground beneath X exploded upwards as it was flung backwards by the force. Small rocks and pieces of debris rained onto Satomi and Corban, and the dust made them choke. With effort, Satomi looked up, and gasped.

"X2? B-But how!?"

'What the fuck are you…" Corban's voice died out as he too looked ahead of them. Before them, a seemingly human figure stood with long dreadlocks, armour on its pale skin, and a gilled mask. It quickly glanced at Satomi, growled, and turned its attention back to X, who was hissing angrily as it stood up. With a loud growl, the masked creature flicked its wrists, and two jagged blades shot forth from each of its gauntlets.

"Come on, this way!" Corban yelled as he pulled Satomi to the gaping hole in the floor, just as they heard the masked creature roar as it and X leapt at each other, ready for a fight. They both landed on the floor below with a loud thud, and Corban quickly got to dragging Satomi through the hallways again.

"But what about my research?" She cried. "These creatures can't be beat without further study! If they ge-"

"Your research can go to Hell, woman!" Corban spat. "No amount of papers and Word Documents are worth my life, and seeing as you're the one paying me and my boys, it's not worth yours either!" He quickly tugged her around a corner. "I'm getting you out of here whether you like it or not!"

* * *

With a loud rustle, Mana and Setsuna burst from the forest onto one of the walkways. "We need to report this to the headmaster!" Mana said as she started darting along the road. "As soon as possible!"

"What was that back there!?" Setsuna asked with wide eyes as she ran alongside Mana. "Why would demons do that?"

"I told you that was no demon!" Mana said as she shouldered her rifle. "Demons don't make such displays of humans!"

"Then what does!?"

"How should I know!?" Mana spat. "I've never fought anything that does that!"

"Wait…" Setsuna said as she slowed to a stop. "If those men were around the science building… And Ojou-sama is heading there now… Doesn't that mean…" Her eyes widened considerably when realisation struck her. "Go on to the dean!" She called as she turned around and started running. "I need to get to the science building!" Mana nodded and quickly turned around. Setsuna broke into a sprint the minute it was possible. She quickly glanced around, and when she saw nobody was around, she spread her wings and took to the skies.

_Please Kono-chan… Please be alright…_

* * *

"Duck!" Corban yelled as he pulled Satomi down, allowing a blue bolt of plasma to pass over their heads and collide with one the creatures Satomi called Xenomorphs, blowing it apart. Its blood fell everywhere around it and immediately started eating at the walls, floor and machinery as more Xenomorphs came crawling at them on the walls and ceiling. "Shit, how many are there?"

"We had thirty-five specimens here." Satomi cried as they continued to run down the halls, dodging more plasma bolts. "Include the seventy-five facehuggers, that may or may not already have spawned more of them…"

"Enough with the stats!" Corban cried. "It was a rhetorical question – Shit!" He quickly skidded to halt, stopping Satomi abruptly, as two more masked creatures similar to the one that saved them from X, landed in front of them. One's mask lacked the gills, instead sporting sunken cheeks, and the other had a skull-like design to its mask. Both quickly unsheathed their blades from their gauntlets, one with two in each, the other with one longer blade on each arm, and sprinted past the two.

"So that's how it works…" Satomi mused as the lasers shot from the side of the one masked creature's lens, and a small, gun-like mechanism appeared on its shoulder, firing blue bolts at the Xenomorphs.

"Are you fucking insane!?" Corban yelled. "We're in the middle of a fucking fight and you wanna drool over some weapon!?" He grabbed her by the collar and hoisted her up. "Get a fucking – whoa!" He cried as a plasma bolt barely missed his head and blew a hole in the far wall, allowing daylight to filter into the passage. "What floor are we on?" He asked Satomi.

"Uh… B-by now… I think the third…"

"Then that's our way out."

"What!? You want to jump!? That's madness!!!" She cried as several hisses ame from behind them, and three more Xenomorphs came from the direction of the stairs.

"It's that or death!" Corban yelled as more plasma bolt flew round them. "And seeing as this is _my_ choice, I say we jump!" He yelled as he pulled Satomi by the arm.

"B-But wait!" Satomi stuttered as she squirmed in his grip. "W-We could d-die!"

"FUCK IT!" He yelled, and with a shriek from Satomi, they both jumped from the hole, plummeting to the ground below.

* * *

"Whoa!" Asuna cried. "Look at that!" She pointed to the Science building, where a large, blue explosion blew a hole in the wall. "Did you guys see that!?"

"We did!" Negi said, breaking into a run. "Something's wrong there! Whoa!" Another larger explosion blew away a part of the middle area of the building, sending debris falling towards the earth. "It's like there's a war zone in there!"

"We need to go and help!" Konoka cried. "People could be-"

"Kono-Chan!" All three of them whipped their heads around to see Setsuna flying towards them. "Wait!"

"Set-chan, your wings!" Konoka cried as Setsuna landed, stumbling a bit. "What if people see…" She fell silent when she saw Setsuna up close. She was in a cold sweat, shaking uncontrollably and panting heavily.

"You… can't go there…" Setsuna heaved. "The men… We found them… They're all dead!" All of them visibly paled at hearing this.

"All of them?" Negi asked. "How could all of them be –"

_**BOOM!!!**_

Another loud explosion came from the ground floor as another bright blue explosion blew the walls out, several pieces of debris landing a few feet away from the group as more explosions rocked the top floors.

"Listen…" Setsuna heaved. "Those men… They were all s-skinned… and decapitated… There's something more than demons here, sensei! You can't go in there!"

"Guys!" Asuna called, covering her head with her arms as more debris landed close to them. "We should decide quickly, or we'll all be crushed soon!"

"Please sensei…" Setsuna panted. "Turn back! Something doesn't feel right about this!" Negi quickly glanced back at the building, now riddled with holes, start to burn before his eyes in shades of orange and blue. Exhaling with a shaky breath, he decided. "Fine… We'll turn back…"

"Thank you, sensei…" Setsuna sighed with relief. "Come on, we need to go." Just as they turned, a very odd sound met their ears.

In between all the explosions, a loud, animalistic screech, accompanied by an even louder roar, came from the science building.

* * *

At the very top of the building, another blue explosion blew a hole in the ceiling and another masked warrior dropped through. The low lighting cast a deep shadow over its skull-like mask as it strode towards the operating table in the centre of the room. On it, the remains of another warrior lay decaying in the darkness. Its mask, with its sunken cheeks, steep forehead, red lens-covered eyes, and two tusks starting at the tip of its chin, was placed neatly on a pedestal, with a kind of wrist bracer right under it.

With a growl, the warrior pulled two plugs from its mask, and with a vacuum-like sound, pulled it off as it turned away from the light, hiding its face in darkness. It reached out with its two pale hands, took the mask from the pedestal, and placed it on its own face, then inserted the plugs again. It quickly pulled its own wrist bracer from its gauntlet and set it down on the pedestal. With a slow movement, it placed its fallen comrade's bracer into the slot, and its lenses illuminated as various symbols and runes flickered over them.

On the other side of the room, the creature saw its comrade's gun, attached to several small cables. With an angry growl, it ripped the cables away, and picked it up. After examining it for a short while, it pulled one of its own two guns from its shoulder, and started shifting the parts.

After a while, it raised its one hand, holding a small, handheld gun fashioned from the two weapons, and aimed at the wall. With a loud _beep_, the gun discharged a large blue bolt of plasma and blew another hole in the wall. The warrior growled and quickly holstered weapon as it strode to the platform and picked up its old bracer. It stalked to the remains of its comrade and placed the bracer between the skeletal remains, and ran a hand over the skull with a low growl. Then, it quickly flipped open the bracer and typed into the console. After a few seconds, the device started beeping as a blue hue surrounded it.

The warrior quickly opened its own bracer and typed into it furiously. Then it turned around and, with a loud roar, leapt through the hole in the wall.

* * *

Negi desperately glanced back at the science building as the flames quickly spread and more explosions tore it apart. Setsuna placed a hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention. "I'm sorry, sensei." She said solemnly. "But something just doesn't –"

_**BOOM!!!**_

The entire group gasped as a huge blue explosion blew the top of the science building clean off, sending large vertical and diagonal cracks down the wall and causing the entire building to fall. "No!" Negi cried as he watched the building crumble to bits as clouds of smoke escaped into the sky.

"What the hell!?" Asuna cried as she watched as the entire area around the building was littered by debris and pieces of machinery. Negi was breathing heavily as his heart sank, just as the building did.

"I thought something was wrong…" Setsuna said softly. "But I never imagined that could happen…" Negi gulped.

"What about Hakase-san? The other scientists? Any students who were…"

"I'm sorry, sensei." Setsuna said sorrowfully. "If there was anyone in that building… They're dead now…"

* * *

_Impossible…_ Dean Konoe thought as he observed the incident through his large window. Even though he wasn't looking behind him, he could tell Evangeline was just as shocked at the occurrence. _What mage could possibly have done that!?_

"Do you think that was a mage's doing?" Evangeline asked him. "Because I can't sense anyone other than the usual mages on campus. And _none _of them are strong enough to do that…"

"I don't know what to think…" The dean said. "Who would do such a thing to a bunch of students and innocent bystanders!?"

"I don't know… Evangeline said as she looked at the cloud of black smoke. "One thing's for certain though: That was definitely _not_ a mage…

* * *

Around the fallen science building, several students were gathered as appalled cries and gasps filled the air at the sight of the mangled corpses between the rubble. Onlookers as far as a few streets away were stunned, all standing with hands across their mouths.

On the roof of one of the buildings, the warrior with the tusked mask sat on its haunches as three of its comrades stood behind it. One of them, donning a gilled mask, had deep cuts on its arms and thighs, and scratch marks decorated its armour and mask as the other two tried to tend to it.

With a few loud clicks, the lead warrior glanced at the other side of the area as X, followed closely by its kin and the creatures called facehuggers, fled deeper into the campus. X quickly stopped and turned around, and stared the lead warrior directly in its eyes. It started breathing heavily, then pulled its head back, arched its back, and roared, sending spittle and blood flying in all directions as its mandible pulled aside.

With a loud growl, the lead warrior stood up and faced X, clenching its hands into fist s as its prey turned tail and fled. It quickly glanced down at the rubble and all the people surrounding it, and growled at its comrades. Then it flipped open its bracers, and after typing on it a few times it, and its comrades, disappeared.

* * *

A/N: Wow… Second chapter finished. This one was quite hard, so sorry if it took a while to update. Personally I think something's wrong with this chapter, but I simply can't put my finger on what it is… Please, leave a review and inform me of what it is. I need to rectify it if I did anything wrong.

BTW: The lead Predator, whose mask has two tusks, will now be referred to as Tusk. It's simply easier for me as to calling it 'The Lead Hunter' or 'The tusk-masked warrior' all the time.

So… We have ten Preds, a PredAlien, 40+ Aliens and God knows how many Facehuggers loose on Mahora, and little Negi and his coup are caught smack-bang in the middle. Intersting? Boring? Bit of both? Let me know what you guys thought with a review (it's real food for thought) and please help me become a better writer with your Awesome tips and advice. Flamers… Ah, what the hell. You guys are welcome too. I'll just see it as constructive criticism.

Thanks a ton for reading! :D

Cheers!

_--Slipkn0T--_


	3. 3 Infestation

Story summary:

When an old temple is found, its origins are believed to be from the Magical world. But when its prisoners escape and run free, their jailors make their appearance. How will Ala Alba survive a war between two unknown species? Negima x AVP crossover. I would've said so in the summary, but I ran out of space. If you're prone to react negatively to character deaths, M-rated violence or simply dislike the idea, don't read any further. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

A/N: Yes, yes, I know… This belongs in the crossovers section, sue me. Or better yet, sue my crappy country for not allowing me access to it. This fic was in the crossovers section at first, but an error prevented it from staying there.

And, Chapter 3's up! My lord, I love this site. I've never been so active in years! Uh… Maybe I shouldn't have said that out loud… Anyhow, let get to the chapter! Enjoy!

* * *

**CHAPTER 3  
Infestation**

Gandolfini sighed as he took another sip from his glass, pondering the happenings of the past day. The night sky loomed outside the windows, casting ominous shadows across the dimly lit room. Only five hours earlier, word had reached him of a terrorist attack at the Mahora Science building, and the mages were already looking into it. He, on the other hand, had much worse matters to deal with.

With a soft _click_, the lights came on as Takane entered the room, lower arms adorned with scratch marks of all shapes and sizes. She slowly glared at the glass of alcohol in his hand, and sat down across him. "I thought you said you'd never take to that again after the festival…" She said softly.

"Well, the situation calls for it." He sighed. "What happened?" He asked, motioning to her arms with his free hand.

"Mei." Takane answered. "She went into some kind of fit when I turned off the lights. Kept screaming something about monsters… She only fell asleep an hour after I turned the lights on again…" She glanced at his glass again. "What 'situation' were you referring to, if I may ask?"

"Is Mei asleep now?" Gandolfini asked, glancing into the flames cracking in the fireplace.

"Yes…" Takane answered with a look of confusion on her face. Gandolfini smiled lightly.

"Then let her rest for another hour or so. After that, you need to take both her and Nutmeg away from here. Take them to someone you think you can trust." He glanced around, and saw her confusion growing. "Harrington refuses to believe a word of what Mei told us." He sighed.

"I can understand that…" Takane mused. "Black creatures with long heads and acidic blood aren't charted in either world. But I don't see how-"

"Harrington needs something to tell his superiors about the missing mages." He cut her off, making her frown. "And Mei's story of black monsters that bleed acid isn't an option to him." He fell silent for a few seconds before continuing. "He desperately needs something that'll allow him to keep his job. Thus…" He paused, and gulped. "Thus he's told them that you three are in league."

"In league? In league on _what_, exactly?" Takane asked as she stood up angrily. Gandolfini merely stared into the fire again.

"He told the higher-ups that Mei and Nutmeg killed the mages on your command, and injured each other to make it look like they were all attacked." Gandolfini sighed again as took another large sip from his glass.

"But… But that's ludicrous! That's… That's…" Takane had no words to describe it. "It's preposterous!" She said after a short silence. Gandolfini sighed.

"That's not the worst part…" He said as he gazed into the fire again. "Come the morning…" He looked at her with a look of sorrow. "He's going to try all three of you for a death sentence."

* * *

The dean sighed as he held the mobile phone next to his ear, looking agitated. Around him, various students were dotted across his office, in deep conversation about the explosion five hours earlier. "I blame the science geeks." Asuna said as she crossed her arms. "They're always conducting weird experiments in there, it was only a matter of time before something blew up."

"How can scientists be responsible for what we found in the forest?" Mana spoke up from her corner. Her jacket was lazily hanging from one shoulder, and a few droplets of blood still clung to the shoulder area. "I doubt simple scientist could do all that…"

"Tatsumiya-san has a point…" Setsuna said from Konoka's side. "The men we found were almost torn apart. Their skulls were all hanging on a branch, some even had their spines on. No normal human is capable of that…"

"But then what were those blue explosions on the sides of the building?" Negi pondered aloud. "And what roared like that after it collapsed?"

"It's probably connected to the dead soldiers and missing students…" Evangeline yawned from her seat. "Students go missing, soldiers turn up dead and then a building explodes. There has to be some kind of connection."

"Hang on. What missing students?" Negi asked.

"Didn't you hear, sensei?" Mana asked. "The group who went into the forest to see what crashed there haven't returned." Negi glanced at the floor at hearing this. A sigh drew all the students' attention to the dean's desk.

"As you wish, Yukihiro-san." He said. "I'll inform your daughter to get ready." He said as he put the phone down. "That makes fifteen." He said as he sank back in his chair. "Fifteen families who insist on escorting their children off campus with armed guards." He groaned. "And they're only going to be here in a few hours… How did this happen?"

"Nobody knows, Konoe-sama." Setsuna said. "It just seemed to happen the minute we got there." The dean nodded at this when Shizuna entered the office. The dean silently scribbled a few names on the list, and handed it to her. "Go tell these girls their parents are coming to get them tomorrow." He said. "They are to start packing immediately, they'll be here in a few hours. It seems nothing is more important than these girls are to these people." She nodded without a word and left. Negi noticed a look of great worry on her face as she left. "There are quite a few injured students from the explosion, Negi-kun." The dean said sincerely. "She and the rest of the medical staff are working their fingers to the bone, but it's not enough. Emergency medical personnel and a few more healing mages are on their way here."

"Why can't I go help, Grandpa?" Konoka asked. "I'm also training!" She was interrupted as the phone rang again.

"This makes sixteen…" Konoemon sighed as he answered, sinking back into his chair.

"The parents sure are worried…" Negi mused. "Aren't armed escorts a little too much?"

"Whatever happened has caused quite a stir." Setsuna said. "It's got these girls' parents fearing for their children's lives. I think that the armed guards are their own ways of assuring themselves that they will be safe."

"The press are also partly to blame." Mana spoke. "Rumours of terrorist attacks and foreign invasions started going around about an hour after the building collapsed. It's likely that they heard those, and think armed forces will be able to keep such attacks away."

"But it couldn't have been a bomb!" Asuna persisted. "What bomb makes blue explosions?"

"We never said it was a bomb…" Negi sighed. "But whatever it was, it sure is dangerous… Especially judging by that roar we heard…"

* * *

The night silence shattered as a group of girls strolled down one of the roads, heading towards one of the cafés to get something to eat. "Jeez, such things should happen more often." One of them giggled. "The people were so distracted we could've gotten away with _anything._"

"Yeah! Even the teachers are worried, and they're not even on duty now…"

"Mind you, a lot of people _did_ get hurt when that building fell… And then there was that freaky scream afterwards!"

"I'm pretty sure that was a roar, girl."

"Scream, roar, same diff. I don't care what it was it freaked m-" A loud _thump_ behind them followed by a rustling sound caused them all to spin around. "Wait… Where's Ami?"

"Hey! Ami? This isn't funny!"

"Yeah, come on! Stop messing around!" Only silence answered them, and some of them started shaking slightly.

"You heard that story about the vampire before the festival? What if it's back?" One of them asked.

"That was in Sakura Lane."

"Unless it comes here too…" Two light taps on the tarmac behind them spin around, just in time to see a pair of bony hands wrap around one of the girls' ankles and pull her feet out from under her. Her scream went silent as she hit the concrete face first, and with one smooth motion, her body was pulled into the dark alley.

With several screams, the girls turned around and ran, one of them uttering a choking sound before being lifted off her feet, disappearing up the side of a building. Another went silent as something latched onto her face, causing her to stumble backwards and fall, but the last girl didn't worry anymore. She kept running straight with her eyes screwed shut, praying aloud.

With a loud _thud_ she ran into something solid and fell to the ground, crying loudly. A strong hand closed around her shoulder and she felt herself being hoisted up into the air, yelling out in pain from sharp talons ripping into her flesh. She slowly opened her eyes, and gazed into two rows of sharp teeth, surrounded by four small tusks. Just as she opened her mouth to scream, the creature's mouth opened and another small mouth shot forwards, travelling right down her throat as the tusks locked around her head. Her throat burned as she felt several leathery objects force their way down, and her vision started swimming.

After five objects were forced down her throat, the small mouth quickly pulled out of her throat as the hand let her go. Glancing up again, she saw black dreadlocks swaying above her, and a muscular body leaned over her before her consciousness faded and the blackness took her.

* * *

"You sure, Seruhiko-sensei?" One of the girls asked. "It looks like you still have quite a lot to do here…" They asked as they glared at what remained of their activity for the festival.

"I told you, it's fine." He smiled as he gazed at the debris. "I'm not going to overdo it, anyhow. I plan on turning in early tonight as well." He quickly glanced at the girls when he heard no reply, and tensed at the expressions on their faces. All of them were deathly pale, shivering and matted with cold sweat. "Is everything all right, girls?" He asked as he stepped forwards, only for one of the girls to squeak and point behind him. That was when he felt the warm breath on his neck and he spun around just in time to dodge a small mouth attached to a pole shooting from a fanged mouth. He quickly jumped back and drew his small staff, surveying the attacker and gasping slightly when it stood on its hind legs, towering over him by at least four feet. The lights around them danced on its bony carapace, illuminating the blade on the tip of its ridged tail and reflecting off the dome covering the top of its oblong head, arching into a spiky, pronged crest about halfway back. The monster hissed again as it stepped forwards, drawing whimpers and squeaks from the girls as it bared its teeth again, hissing loudly.

Seruhiko slightly craned his head around. "Get out of here…" He growled, at first not getting a response. "GO!" He yelled at them, snapping them from their daze just as the monster advanced. It halted when it saw the girls stumbling over all the obstacles, as it reared its head and screeched, making Seruhiko cover his ears with his hands. The girls' screams easily broke through his makeshift covers, and when he turned around, he saw why.

Fifteen smaller creatures surrounded the girls, circling them on all fours, hissing as the lights danced on the domes, theirs covering their smaller, oblong heads all the way to the back. Each of them hissed, drawing their lip back to reveal their teeth, coated with spittle which flew in all directions as the sounds escaped through their gritted teeth. He quickly glanced back at the crested monster, which was now hardly five feet from him, and then back at the smaller monsters, circling the girls as they hissed and screeched. _This is not good_… He thought as he gritted his teeth and turned to face the leader.

"So you must be the boss…" He said softly. As if it understood, the creature hissed at him and its second mouth shot out again, so fast he hardly realised it moved until it snapped shut less than a centimetre from his forehead. He quickly doubled back a few steps, but stopped when one of the girls screamed. He spun around just in time to see one of the smaller creatures grab her by the shoulders and slam onto the ground, closing its hands around the underside and top of her face as it held her head up and opened its mouth.

A beam of gold struck the monster in its side, causing its blood to usher and spray in all directions. "Now!" He cried as the other creatures turned to face him. "Get out of here! Run, before…" His voice died out in his throat as the fallen girl continued to scream, and he began tremble in shock. "Oh… Dear God…"

The creature's blood was slowly eating away at the young girls face and flesh, causing her blood to boil and bubble as the acidic liquid ate deeper and deeper into her skin. His eyes widened as a whitish-yellow substance mixed with the blood as it ate clean through her eyes, and saw arcs of blood spray as it turned her throat into a half pipe of flesh and muscle. "My God…" He shivered as he watched her voice turn into a gurgle, and then fall silent as her hands, now eaten through to the bone, stopped clawing at the remnants of her face as they fell limply at her sides. "What… What have I - Gaaah!" He cried out as a sudden pain shot through his lower back, and he felt droplets of blood on his chin and cheeks. He slowly glanced down to see a blade protruding from his stomach, and he could see two ridges where the blade ended. With a grunt, he turned around and saw the creature's tail, leading all the way to his back.

_It… It saw an opening…_ He thought to himself, spitting blood and screaming as the creature drove its tail further and further through his stomach, until a good six feet of its swayed in front of him. _That sly devil took… advantage of my weakness and…_ He glanced back at the creature and into its open mouth as the smell of rotten flesh and blood hit his face, and he grunted his last sound just as its inner mouth shot forwards, and everything went black.

The remaining girls screamed and broke into tears when they saw the large monster punch a hole clean through their beloved sensei's head with its second mouth. With a few hisses, it swung its tail to the side, causing Seruhiko's corpse to fly off it and into one of the low walls as it advanced on them. With a loud screech, its kin descended on the girls in a cacophony of hisses, screeches and shrieks as the girls' terrified screams floated into the night sky, unheard.

* * *

"But there has to be a misunderstanding!" Ayaka Yukihiro pleaded as she stood with both hands on the dean's desk. "It was probably just an accident at the science building, there's no need for this!" The office was now devoid of any other people, as the former students had all returned to their dorms.

"I told your parents the same story." Konoemon sighed. "But they won't have it. They are sending a private helicopter to pick you up, and your mother is coming with them. It will arrive in an hour." He said as he looked at her teary face. "I am really sorry about this, Yukihiro-san. But judging by your parents' tone of voice, I think this will be your last hour at Mahora Academy." He looked at her sorrowfully as she began to cry.

"But… But all my friends are here…" She sobbed. "I've been here most of m-my life!"

"I understand your conflicts with this." He said softly. "But I too believe it is best if all the students, let alone the rich and powerful be escorted off campus. A shame that some parents lack that…"

"B-But what if I don't want to go?" Ayaka pleaded.

"I am sure can take a stand against this when your mother gets here." He smiled. "However, it is best that you pack nonetheless. You must be prepared in case your mother convinces you to go." He said sadly. "That will be all, Yukihiro-san." He said as he turned his attention to the flood of letters he got after the explosion. With tears still staining her cheeks, she turned and left without a word. However, the dean could swear he heard more sobs escape her as she walked down the hall.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Shizuna ran in with a fearful expression and tears in her eyes. "Headmaster…" She huffed. "Please… You must come quickly!"

"What happened?" He asked as he stood up, a stern expression on his face.

"It's Seruhiko, headmaster!" She panted. "He… He's been murdered!"

* * *

A loud cry escaped Satomi's mouth, resonating through the dimly lit room of the abandoned dorm as Matthew Corban quickly and efficiently shifted her broken leg back into position, grunting as he did so.

"Oh, shut up and suck it up." He growled as he called the medic in. "Always the brainiac scientists who turn to be the biggest pussies."

"Well, forgive me for not being used to broken limbs." She bit back. "I research for a living, I don't gun people down simply because I can…"

"And you're missing out because of that." He grinned, just as another soldier entered the small room.

"All perimeter defences have been set up, sir." The woman huffed. "We have mines, tripwire grenades and claymores spanning a three meter makeshift moat around this building, and all our patrols are kitted with both night vision and infrared imaging. We have MG nests on every corner of this dorm, and all our snipers are perched on the roof and in the windows. Sir, _nothing_ is getting within half a mile of this building, Xenomorph or otherwise."

"Good." Corban nodded. "Still, I want the Browning M2's unpacked at the entranceways, with highbeams running on _independent_ power supplies along with them." The soldier nodded. "I also want the order spread that each soldier is to chuck their suppressors and silencers, we need as much damage per shot as we can get. Now move it." He grunted as the woman saluted and walked off.

"Browning M2's…" Satomi chuckled. "You must be really scared of the Xenomorphs if you have fifty calibre machineguns in the doorway…" Corban punched her broken limb in response, making the medic flail his arms in panic as she screamed.

"That'll teach ya to mouth off to me…" He grunted as he took a seat at the foot of the table she was laying on. "Now," He said as he clamped a fist around the lumps on her leg where the bones were broken, and squeezed slightly, making the girl yelp. "You are going to tell me _everything_ you found out about our hunter friends."

"Surely you can't thi- AAAAH!" She screamed again as Corban tightened his hold on her leg.

"I heard enough to know those fuckers are dangerous, and _very_ hard to kill." He said as he drew a large revolver from his belt and placed it on her forehead, clicking the hammer in place as he did so. "As much as you won't like it, even you are expendable to us now. This is a last-man-standing scenario between us, the Xenos and whatever the fuck dismantled my men in the forest."

"You need me…" Satomi grinned. "I know the most about the Xenomorphs… About their hierarchy… Kill me now and you and all your men die…" Corban frowned, but smiled shortly after as he pulled the gun away and pointed at her crotch. "And you need this…" He growled, increasing the pressure behind the gun. "Without this there'll be nobody to 'continue your legacy'. And if I decide to leave you here, you'll make absolutely _no_ breakthroughs 'cuz those hunters will skin you alive." He suddenly pulled the revolver away brought it level with her head, and pulled the trigger.

Her scream echoed through the entire building, along with a gunshot that made eve nthe walls of the abandoned dorm vibrate as it travelled. Outside, several of the soldiers pressed their hands to their ears.

She whimpered as she gazed to her left, to see almost an entire quarter of the flimsy table blasted away. Corban chuckled as he clicked the hammer into place again, and shoved to barrel against her forehead, singeing her skin with the red-hot tip as he did so. "Good old Smith 'n Wesson…" He chuckled. "Point five-hundred, enough to take most of the top of your body off." He grinned as he pulled the revolver away and pointed it at her crotch again. "Now talk… Or you'll see firsthand whether there's a God or not…"

* * *

"It's ridiculous." Asuna huffed as she, Negi, Konoka, Setsuna and Mana strolled down the corridors of the dorm building. "I mean, armed guards? Are they serious?"

"I heard Iinchou-san's parents are also coming to fetch her in an hour." Negi said. "Maybe we should go bid her farewell."

"You go ahead." Asuna huffed. "I'm not wasting my time like that…"

Mana abruptly stopped at the one window, ignoring Asuna's rant as she narrowed her eyes. "See something?" Setsuna asked from Konoka's side.

"I don't know…" She answered slowly. "I swear I saw something move out there… Somewhere there in the shadows." She said as she squinted through the windows as Setsuna and Konoka stood beside her. Two brief, eye-shaped flashes in one of the shadows made Konoka jump slightly, as Mana smirked. "I knew it…" She said as she turned to Setsuna and took her rifle out. "Go back to the dorm. I'm going to see what that was."

"Are you sure?" Setsuna asked, a bit wary.

"It's probably just another low-level demon." Mana said as she secured her pistols in their holsters. "It's nothing I can't handle." She smirked.

Unbeknownst to her, a hazy silhouette moved in the shadows outside, observing her through different shades of red as several glyphs and arrows singled out her weapons, calculating the threat they posed. With a satisfied growl, the figure leapt up onto one of the building, and waited.

* * *

Elsewhere, Project X suddenly stopped. It picked up several unique pheromones in the air, and it hissed loudly as it glanced to its right. In the distance, the windows of a small cottage burned brightly, like two eyes gazing straight at it. With a roar at its kin, several smaller creatures shot forwards, leaving the rest to drag all the young bodies towards the forest. Each small creature quickly darted to the small cottage, hissing softly as they ran at blinding speeds. Project X hissed contentedly, before turning back to the unconscious girl in its arm. It brought her face level with its own, and its tusks wrapped around her head as its inner mouth shot down her throat.

* * *

"Are you sure, Ayaka-san?" Negi asked as he helped her carry her bags to the place where her parents' helicopter would pick her up. "I doubt your parents wouldn't allow you to come back after all this is over."

"I know my parents by now, Negi-sensei." Ayaka sniffed as she tugged on one of the large cases. "If they believe I'm in danger there's no way I'm ever going near that place again, whether I like it or not…" She said.

"But that's unfair!" Konoka said. "Don't you get to decide that?"

"Not where I come from…" Ayaka sighed, just as a whirring noise reached their ears. The trio glanced up as the helicopter appeared on the horizon, coming closer with each second. "Well, I guess this is it." She sighed again as she turned to Negi. "Thank you, sensei, for making school fun again these past months." She smiled with tears in her eyes. "I'll really miss you…" She said as she pulled the boy into a hug, drawing a giggle from Konoka as said boy blushed profusely at the spot where he was caught in.

But suddenly the heiress perked up, a wary look on her face. "Hey guys…" She called to Negi and Ayaka as she pointed at the helicopter. "Wha… What's that?" She asked as she pointed at three red beams fixed on the helicopter, clearly visible in the night sky.

"I… I don't know…" Negi said as he squinted, watching the beams grow closer as the helicopter did.

"Wait…" Ayaka said, eyes suddenly wide. "Th-those look like…" No sooner had she trailed off, when a bright blue bolt fired from the source of the beams, blasting the tail of the helicopter clean off and causing it to careen out of control, spinning wildly in the air before another bolt struck the side, causing it to explode in a bright blaze. Ayaka's eyes widened again as she paled, seeing the helicopter fall to the ground. "Mother… No!" She cried as she dropped all her bags and sprinted to the place where the helicopter crashed.

"Iinchou-san!" Konoka called after her.

"Ayaka-san, wait!" Negi called, discarding the heavy case and glancing up only to find her gone already.

"Not good…" Konoka said. "Not good at all!"

* * *

Mana raised an eyebrow when she saw the explosion in the distance, and lowered her rifle. _Must have been one of the escorts_… She thought. _So this demon is here to stir up trouble…_ She quickly steadied her rifle in front of her. _But where is it?_ She scowled as she looked around, finger resting on the trigger of her rifle. _It was here a few minutes ago… But where could it - _She tensed when everything went deathly silent. _Not good…_ She thought as she quickly surveyed her surroundings. _This is never a good thing…_

A loud clang above her made her look up just in time to see a barely visible silhouette descend on her, and she just barely raised her rifle above her head to black an attack. Two invisible blades effortlessly cut through the wood of the rifle, embedding themselves in the steel barrel. She quickly tossed the rifle aside and rolled forwards just as two more blades opened small cuts on her lower back, and she drew her pistols as she turned around and aimed at it, firing several shots.

She hit nothing.

_What!_ Her eyes widened just as a bright blue light shot from nowhere, catching her unprepared and leaving her wide open. In a bid to block it, she tossed one of her pistols at the light, causing it to explode on impact just as the silhouette rushed forward again, and she saw its claws glint in the moonlight, even through its cloak.

She fired again, this time aiming more precisely, and grimaced when each of the bullets ricocheted off it with loud _clangs_ as the figure rushed forward, undeterred. _My spellbreaker bullets aren't working!_ She thought wildly as she hopped back, avoiding its claws again. _Then… Then this can't be a demon… Crap! I'm not kitted for this!_ She ducked under one of the assailant's overhead swipes, and quickly tried to make some distance between them, failing miserably as the creature closed in with a great leap, landing before her. She hopped back again, but one of the blades opened a small cut on her cheek.

She ducked under another overhead swipe, but this time her assailant was ready, spinning on the spot and kicking her legs out from under her, before bringing its left fist down on her again. She quickly rolled to the side, but the attacker wasted no time in closing the distance again, delivering a crushing kick to her ribs, lifting her off the ground and sending flying into the wall, crashing against several pipes. She slumped as she slid down, falling over onto her side as the creature came near.

She saw its footprints appear in the sand, and looked up to see it raise its left arm, preparing to strike. _Just a bit longer…_ She thought as the attacker pulled its arm back and uttered a few clicks. _Come on… Come on!_ She desperately thought, staring at the outlines of the assailants head. Then, with a loud growl, it attacked, almost too fast for Mana to register. _NOW! _She quickly pushed forward and rolled to the left, hearing a loud _clang_ as the claws parted the steel of the pipes, followed by the sounds of water spraying from the burst pipes. She glanced up to see the water enveloping the attacker's figure, rendering its cloak useless as the water streamed down its figure.

Several electrical crackles echoed from where it was standing as several blue lines danced and wriggled across the silhouette, and within seconds the cloak started dissipating, revealing something that made Mana tremble slightly at the fearsome sight before her.

Her eyes locked with the visor over its own, taking in the details of its mask, arching over its wide forehead, dotted with glyphs and runes of various shapes and sizes, the most notable being a large T-shaped marking that looked slightly uneven and the intimidating fangs mounted in its hollow cheeks. She traced its dreadlocks down to its broad shoulders - taking note of the gun-like contraption mounted there - and continued surveying its armour, decorating its muscular body in many places, also covered in runes similar to those on its helm. She backed away at seeing the black talons on its fingers and the long, jagged blade protruding from its gauntlets as it stepped closer, breathing heavily. _Wha… What the hell is this thing!_ She thought as she aimed again, this time at the areas of its body covered by a mesh-like contraption, unshielded by armour. With a flick of its wrist, its blades extended even longer as it roared at her, bulling its arms back, parallel with the ground, before charging at her with murderous intent.

* * *

Several gunshots in the air made Setsuna whip around in front of the door of her dorm room. A couple more followed, and she frowned. _I knew I should've gone along!_ She mentally chided as she rushed down the hall. _It seems there's more than one demon… And judging from the sounds, it's more than she can handle… _

* * *

"Your tea, master." Chachamaru bowed slight as she set the cup down in front of Evangeline, who was deep in thought. The small girl hardly realised that Chachamaru was there. "Master?" She called again, drawing the girl from her thoughts. "You seem troubled."

"It's nothing…" Eva said softly as she took a sip from the tea. "I'm just trying to piece this all together…" She sighed.

"Piece what together, Master?"

"All that's happening." She said, oblivious to the shadows moving outside in the window. "First a helicopter is shot down, then the science building collapses, and now we have a dead teacher and several missing students." She frowned. "I can't see how this all ties together."

"Could it be connected to the ten disturbances in the barrier you felt, master?"

"I doubt it… I lost track of them the minute they entered. They could've been migrating birds, for all I know now…" She angrily gulped down the tea before continuing. "Maybe I'll get all this tomorrow, after I've slept a while. Chachamaru, close the curtains. I'm going to bed." She said as she stood up.

"Yes, master." The gynoid replied as she walked to the window. A sudden movement outside caused her to freeze, and survey the dark grounds outside. She quickly scanned for anything outside, and when she found nothing, shrugged it off.

"What's wrong?" Eva asked from the top of the stairs.

"Nothing, master." Chachamaru answered, looking up at her. "I thought I saw something move outside, but my scans confirmed there is nothing." Eva nodded, and Chachamaru turned back to the window - and stared into a gaping mouth, baring fangs and uttering a loud screech before smashing through the window, seizing her by the throat.

Evangeline rushed back just in time to see the black creature thrown back through the window, just as several more jumped in and scurried along the walls and ceiling, as three of them remained behind to keep Chachamaru busy. Evangeline quickly counted eleven of the creatures, before wincing as five more broke through another window, and four more broke her door down. _Great… A demon attack… Just what I need now. _However, she paused at seeing the creatures' bony bodies, and the domes covering their oblong head, as well as the sharp tips of their tails. _Wait… These aren't demons…_ A screech pulled her from her thoughts as one of the monsters leapt at her, to which she responded with a powerful kick to its chest. She winced as the creature's tail lashed out, opening a long, albeit shallow cut on her leg. _My barrier! How can these things -_ In an instant, the creatures had her surrounded, each hissing threateningly as even more attempted to assault Chachamaru. One already lay dead by her side, and another was effortlessly tossed over her head as she fought, several gashes already decorating her clothing. Eva looked back at her assailants, counting nineteen overall. Six of them clung to the roof, two more on the stairway with a couple behind her. "You're quite fast…" She mocked as she got into a stance, each creature hissing and screeching as they stalked around her. Several loud taps behind her made her smirk, and she spun around, planting a roundhouse kick to one creature's jaw as her palm struck another in the chest, sending both of them falling to the floor as three more attacked. The first's attack was easily dodged, and Eva quickly sent the second one flying into the third with a well-placed kick, before feeling five talons shred the flesh on her shoulder. With a grunt, the first creature collided with the wall after Eva landed another well-placed punch on it. "Surely this isn't all you… you 'things' have, is it?" She laughed as four more attacked, one leaping from the ceiling, only to find a foot crashing into its mouth, sending it crashing to the floor below. "Come on!" She cried with a smirk.

Chachamaru killed a third creature by snapping its neck, tossing its corpse aside as she turned to the remaining sixteen. One reared to attack, but a fist attached to a cable slammed into its face, knocking it back out the door as two more attacked. Chachamaru caught them by their throats and waited for their mouths to open. She had a large hole in her shoulder to prove she had learned what these creatures' second mouth does, and just when her victims opened their, she quickly twisted their heads to face each other, causing them to open holes in each other's throat. With two more dead, she tossed them aside as well and turned to the remaining monsters.

Evangeline laughed as she kicked one of the creatures into another's path, causing it to be impaled on the tip of its friend's sharp tail. "This is rather fun…" She muttered, just before one of the remaining fifteen landed another lucky hit on her side, ripping cloth and flesh with its claws. "I still don't know how you pull that off…" She muttered, backhanding the creature away from her, down the stairs where it landed in its head with a sickening _crunch_, which caused her to grin. "Anyone else?" Another creature quickly lunged at her, to which she smiled as she dodged its attack, catching by the tail and spinning it around the creature's neck. She used her new shield to knock away two more attackers before using it to block another one's second mouth. With a dark chuckle, she threw the body away just before its blood could touch her. Numerous holes covered the floor as a testament to what these monsters' blood could do, and she didn't want to be caught in _that_.

She glanced back at the remaining monsters, which seemed to be readying themselves to attack all at once. However, an ear-piercing screech echoed from the distance, and the creatures quickly dispersed, leaving Evangeline and Chachamaru with a confused look.

_**CRASH!**_

Eva jumped as another ridged tail broke clean through the wall and embedded itself in Chachamaru's chest, before pulling back, dragging the gynoid along with it. With a loud _crash_, her body broke a hole in the wall as another ear-piercing screech reverberated through the small cottage. With a huff, Evangeline jumped down, running to the hole in the wall with a frown on her face. "Don't you idiots know when to qui…" Her voice died out when she saw what stood before her.

Another black creature towered over her and the rest of the monsters, standing at least a full person's length higher than she does, as it twirled its tail around Chachamaru's body, while the gynoid struggled to loosen her from the vice-like coil. The moon danced off the large creature's crest, which stood tall and jagged above its head as it hissed. With another frown, Eva leapt forward and planted a roundhouse kick in the creature's gut, followed by a palm strike to its chest, both which resulted in nothing more than a loud _thunk_ as the creature gazed at her for a second, hissing once as it turned back to Chachamaru, undeterred by her attacks.

"Okay…" Evangeline said softly as she realised her attacks did nothing. "This… might be a slight problem…"

* * *

Mana grinded her teeth as the armoured assailant kicked her in the stomach again, aiming another swipe at her face, which she just barely dodged before stumbling to her knees. Two deep gashes stretched from her shoulder to the middle of her back, very close to her spine and narrowly missing her shoulder blades. Several nicks and cuts decorated her body, and her other pistol lay discarded, twisted into a small steel wreck from her attacker's assaults.

Coughing up a bit of blood, she quickly rushed forwards on all fours in an attempt to get away, but her attacker was on her again, grabbing her by the hair and hoisting her up into the air, leaving her legs dangling. It gazed at her face, tilting its head to side, seemingly revelling in the fact that it defeated her. Several black spots decorated its muscular body where Mana's bullets had hit it, and a trickle of green blood dripped from a cut on its arm, which she had put there with a fragment of the pipe it smashed. Just then, it flicked its right wrist, and those blades extended too as it tossed her into the wall, dazing her as it stalked over to its fallen prey.

* * *

Evangeline growled as the large creature slapped her aside again, gritting her teeth as yet another of her attacks went unnoticed by the beast. "Why won't you die!" She growled as she attacked again, resulting in the same loud _thunk_ and another backhand to her face. "I'll show you…" She said, spotting a section of the creature's tail resting on the ground. With a dark smirk, she brought her foot down on the creature's tail, causing it to screech and drop Chachamaru as its tail retracted.

"Can you fight?" Eva called to her, dodging the creature's tail and gasping in surprise when she found this one's was longer that the rest.

"Yes, master." Chachamaru replied, getting up and taking up a stance despite the sparks flying from her stomach area.

"Good." Eva smirked as she ran over to her. "Because I have a plan to get through that thing's hide. But we'll need those lasers behind your eyes." She said.

"I will, master." The gynoid replied. "What is your plan?"

The creature hissed agitatedly as the small girl whispered something into the gynoid's ear, and without a second thought it charged at them, encouraged by the shrieks of its kin at it made a beeline straight for Eva. The girl smirked as one of its hands shot out, and she lifted her arms just in time for the hand to close around her midsection and raise her into the air as her hands came to rest on the creature's hand, looking down.

With a hiss, it opened its mouth and Eva grinned. _Played perfectly…_ She gazed at the creature's second mouth, and just as she would but her plan into motion, the creature stopped, making her frown. "What are you doing!" She cried at it. "I'm right here, vulnerable! Use that second mouth of yours and get it over with!" The monster snarled angrily and tossed her back, flexing its talons as it circled her. _Dammit! It's not falling for it…_ She mentally seethed as she got up. "Well… I don't like this… But I guess it's necessary…" She leapt at the monster, aiming a kick at its midsection, and braced herself when she saw it lash out at her.

She bit back a yelp as the talons tore at her high. She hopped back and attacked again, taking another blow to her chest as she was tossed aside. As she got up, she saw the creature's tail snaking at her, and with a smirk she slapped it to the side. But a loud _squelch_ caused her eyes to widen as she felt a warm fluid drip down her side. She glanced down and saw that creature's tail had somehow curved back at her after she knocked it away, and was now lodged in her side. _Damn… Its tail is much longer…_ She winced as it lifted her into the sky, while she clutched and tugged at the tail. _This was not part of my plan!_ She glanced up and her eyes widened as she looked into the creatures open mouth just as its inner jaw shot out - and she smirked.

With one quick motion she knocked the small mouth to the side wrapped both her hands around it. _But this still fits with said plan!_ "Chachamaru, NOW!" She called, grinning evilly as the two red beams shot from the gynoid's eyes, eating through the soft flesh and muscle in an instant. With an ear piercing screech of agony, the creature fell back as its tail dislodged from Eva's side, and the small girl dropped onto her feet holding the creature's second mouth in her hand. "Now, phase two!" She called as Chachamaru's lasers focused on the tip of the monster's dome, heating it up and causing puffs of smoke to rise into the sky.

"Master, I detect that my laser will not last long enough to burn through that dome in my current state." Chachamaru said as more sparks flew from her torso.

"That's fine…" Eva smirked, gazing at the tip of the creature's dome, now glowing red. "Stop on my mark…" She said softly, watching the creature writhe in agony. "NOW!" She yelled as she charged forwards just as Chachamaru's lasers shut down. With an evil laugh she leapt into the sky, bearing down on the creature.

With a loud _crack!_ the second mouth broke through the creature's dome, causing its blood to pool out of the wound as Eva jumped back with a victorious smirk. The creature tossed its head back, screeching as its blood flew everywhere while its kin flew into chaos, fleeing the scene and attacking each other while doing so. "And don't come back!" Eva called after their fleeing forms as the colossal creature uttered its last shriek before falling to the ground, lifeless.

Eva winced as the pain from her wounds caught up to her, but she grinned nonetheless as she gazed upon the creature's dead body. "That thing's head will make a nice display ornament…" She mused as Chachamaru drew near.

"Master, the dean is waiting at the hospital as we speak. We should report this to him at once, and they can tend to your wounds there as well."

"I don't need a hospital's help." Eva huffed. "But we should inform the old man about this. Something like this could _definitely_ be tied to Seruhiko's death and the missing students…"

* * *

"Tatsumiya-san!" A call from behind them made the armoured humanoid growl angrily, and whip its head in the direction of the voice, lowering Mana to her knees again as it gazed at the intruder. Mana's eyes widened when she saw Setsuna running at them, holding Yuunagi at the ready.

"No…" She muttered. "What are you doing! Get out of here, this thing is too strong!" Mana barked at her, ignoring the menacing growl it sent at her. With a determined look, Setsuna placed her hand on the hilt of her blade.

"Shinmei-Ryuu Secret tech- Wait…" Her eyes widened when she saw the humanoids calm posture. _Of course! If I attack it, I may hit Tatsumiya-san…_ She glowered at the attacker before unsheathing her blade, and charging at it. "Let her go, demon!"

"It's not a demon!" Mana barked again. "Just get out of here!"

Setsuna charged forth undeterred, aiming an attack at the assailant's exposed belly, ignoring its calmness. "Now you die!" She angrily called.

_THWACK!_

All her muscles seized up as something sharp hit her in her back, and she felt herself abruptly stop. Her heart automatically began beating faster, and her vision immediately started to swim._ A poisoned dart!_ She thought as she desperately tried to force her body to move, despite the burning sensation overtaking her. _But without a sound… Not even… a shot… How!_ She slowly felt her limbs start to move to her command, ignoring the pain it was causing her as she turned around, seeing a hazy silhouette a few feet from her. _How couldn't I… sense it…_ She mentally groaned, slowly holding her blade out before her, as the figure approached. The crackling sounds its cloak made when it dissipated reverberated in her ears, and she found herself feeling nauseous. _Wh-what kind of… poison is this!_ She yelped as she swayed on her legs, before looking up at the silhouette.

Now visible, Setsuna saw that this one was similar to Mana's attacker, seeing the resemblance in its dreadlocks, type of mask and armour. This one was even more armoured, though, but its armour pieces seemed less bulky than its counterpart's did. She could make out two long tusks on its mask, beside what looked like part of a skull. A spiky hide was attached to the rim of the mask, with an indefinite amount of runes and glyphs etched into it. Setsuna gulped audibly when she saw three lines of red blood running down the creature's mask, and when she looked down at the pendant hanging around its neck, she gasped loudly…

_Oh no… Is… Is that an intestine?_ She started shaking as the humanoid stalked over to her, holding out its right palm. Even through the cold sweat dripping into her eyes and the blurry vision the poison brought on, she could definitely make out red blood - human blood - covering the cestus that equipped its hand. _I… I can't move…_

"What are you doing!" Mana cried. "Move! Get away from it!" A sharp shard appeared in one of the holes on the underside of its gauntlet, and before either girl could realise it, a large net shot out from it, picking Setsuna up off the ground and propelling her backwards until she impacted with the ground, resulting in a sickening _squelch_ as the steel dart was driven deeper into her back. Struggling against the net, Setsuna could make out the tusked warrior standing before her as it reached to something on its back. It withdrew a short, sharp stick and held it horizontally before it. With a squeeze of its hand, two sharp blades shot out one each tip as the stick extended into a long spear. She tried to cry out, to yell obscenities at the attacker as it raised the spear and pointed it at her, but she was too weak and in too much pain. She saw the other one grab Mana by the hair and lift her into the air again, which only fuelled her attempts to get out of the net. Her limbs did not comply, however, as most of her body was going numb. The tusked warrior uttered a loud series of clicks, and pulled the spear back.

_**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**_

The warrior lowered it spear as several red glyphs appeared on its left gauntlets, flashing and beeping loudly. It planted its spear in the ground and flipped open the console mounted on its wrist, and both Mana and Setsuna gasped when a large hologram of Mahora appeared, with a red, blinking triangle focusing on one point. The warrior hastily typed into the console, resulting in several changes to the hologram, until it stopped, focusing on a convoy of luxury cars streaming into Mahora. Through the hologram, several guns were visible within the cars.

_The escorts… No! _Setsuna kicked against the net with her left leg, which she could still slightly feel, and groaned in anguish as she felt the net cut into the sole of her shoe. The warrior quickly flipped the console shut, and turned to its companion. With a loud growl and a jerk of its head, both of them disappeared, leaving only hazy outlines as Mana was dropped to the ground, landing on her stomach with a loud thud as the two silhouettes ran off.

Setsuna found her consciousness fading, as she saw Mana hover over her, clutching her wound while speaking to her, though she could not hear. She could hear nothing, and as her vision finally melted into a chaotic scene of mixed colours, everything went black.

* * *

The doors to the hospital burst open as Negi, Konoka and Asuna rushed in, gasping at the site of all the blood-covered students around them. Several nurses, as well as Shizuna and Nitta, were all rushing around, helping those in need. Negi quickly noticed Takamichi standing by as a nurse worked on Evangeline's cuts, much to her chagrin. He quickly rushed over, and the stressed look on Takamichi's face became evident. "W-What's going on?" Negi panted as he reached them. "Are you all right, master?" He asked Eva. "What happened?" He asked as he turned to Takamichi.

"We don't know yet." He sighed. "Mahora is under attack, Seruhiko was killed earlier, and large portions of the people on Mahora have disappeared. There have been sightings of armed men running around campus, but these students are telling a different story."

"What kind of story?" Konoka asked.

"They keep muttering about black monsters and black snakes and dragons and demons… I don't know anymore." He sighed.

"I was attacked by those things as well." Eva spoke up with a frown. "About thirty-five of them, as well as a leader. A leader which is now lying dead in front of my cottage, mind you."

"We'll be going around there later to retrieve its corpse." Takamichi said. "But for now we must focus on helping these people."

"Oh no…" Negi sighed. "And Ayaka-san is missing too…"

"Ayaka? What do you -" The doors suddenly burst open again, as a bloodied Mana entered supporting the body of an unconscious Setsuna.

"Set-chan!" Konoka called worriedly as she rushed over, followed closely by Negi, Asuna and Takamichi.

"Help her…" Mana panted as Takamichi took hold of Setsuna and placed her on a stretcher that was brought over. "She was… poisoned…" Mana panted as she sat down, clutching the wound on her back.

"Poisoned?" Eva mused from her seat. "Hmm… This sounds interesting…"

"Tatsumiya-san, what happened?" Negi worriedly asked, to which Mana smirked.

"Get the dean, sensei…" She panted. "You're not going to believe a word of this…"

* * *

Konoemon tugged at his beard, a worried expression plastered on his face as he listened to Evangeline and Mana's tales, visibly paling at hearing some parts.

"So on Evangeline's side, we have black, snake-like creatures that can walk on every surface and are extremely fast, and are even able to surpass her barrier. You say you killed one of their leaders?" He asked Eva, who only nodded. "Hmm… And you say their blood is similar to acid?" Eva nodded again. "Not good… Not good at all…" He turned to Mana, who was sitting with her hand over the bandage covering her wound. "And your story is different?"

"Much, headmaster." Mana nodded. "The creatures Setsuna and I fought were more advanced than what Evangeline described. They were very muscular, up to the point of resisting my bullets and only receiving bruises from them, and they were both armoured. They wore tribal masks with different designs, and they had technology that surpasses ours by years."

"Like?" The dean inquired, taking a seat.

"They had a cloaking device that outscores anything we've come up with. It renders them nearly invisible, and they can easily attack without disabling it. They also had a large net built into their gauntlets, as well as a very advanced holographic device, all technology humans are striving to create now." The dean frowned.

"But I doubt that is the worst part, isn't it?"

"Yes, headmaster." Mana nodded. "Apart from being very ferocious fighters, making use of blades sharp enough to cut through my pistols…" She inhaled before continuing. "I suspect they also had access to plasma weaponry."

"Plasma!" The dean asked; a shocked expression on his face. "Why… That's years from now's technology! How can they have access to it now?"

"I don't know." Mana sighed. "I just think that's what they used to shoot down whatever crashed into the forest earlier." The dean sighed as he slumped back into his seat.

"You say Yukihiro Ayaka is missing as well?"

"Yes, headmaster." Negi answered sadly. "Her mother's helicopter was shot down and she ran off in hurry to find out of her mother survived." The headmaster sighed.

"I think it is safe to assume that _both_ of these creatures are residing on Mahora now… And judging by the numbers Evangeline spoke of, I think it is also safe to assume that these black snakes are responsible for all the disappearances…" A look of realisation appeared on his face. "That is why the armed men are here…" He sighed, before glancing up at the people in the room.

"We need to find every possible survivor before one of those two races can…" He said sternly. "Right now, Mahora is at war with two groups which we know _nothing_ about, and we cannot leave anyone behind for them to find." Each person in the room nodded. "Split up and cover the campus as far as possible. Direct any survivors to Library Island, I will have a team of mages barricade it for your arrival. We'll reside there and call for aid from the magical world as soon as everyone is rounded up." He glanced at them. "As young as you are, these things are _not_ human. So if you encounter them…" He glanced at everyone.

"Kill them if possible."

* * *

Project X hungrily glared at the convoy approaching it, hissing at the sight of all the people. Behind it, hundreds of its kin hissed and screeched softly as each car rolled towards its ranks. Several of the crested creatures screeched as more people were dragged into the forest behind them, each with a spider-like appendage stuck to their face or sporting a very swollen belly. X glanced at the cars, picking up hostility in the pheromones in the air as it drew its lips back in a hiss.

Elsewhere, Tusk was sitting on his haunches in a tree, all nine of his brothers waiting patiently behind them, moonlight filtering through their invisible bodies as they observed the convoy. Several armed men sat with their weapons in hand, safeguarding the innocent passengers from harm. He slowly played with two white feathers he had attained from his former victim, and growled in anticipation for their next encounter.

Several explosions caused the cars to stop as the guards quickly got out and armed themselves, gaping at the spires of blue flame rising before them. X grew jittery as it saw all the humans ripe for harvesting, flexing its claws and hissing impatiently. Tusk calmly stood up, and with a flick of his wrists, his blades extended as his brothers followed suit, growling in anticipation.

Between all the screams, yells and chaos between the convoy, X and Tusk glared at their victims. And with a loud roar from both, the two species attacked, descending on the humans without mercy.

* * *

A/N: Aaand we're done! Whoop-dee-doo! Finally got Chapter 3 up and running. Sorry if there are a ton of spelling errors, my spellchecker went haywire so I switched it off.

Now, to clear something up in case you were wondering, the Alien leader Eva and Chacha fought was **not** a queen. It was what's called a Praetorian, a young queen/defender of the current queen. Has a very, very long tail, the ability to control smaller Aliens and a bulletproof carapace. And yes, I know Tusk got the jump on Setsuna way too easily. But it was a stealth attack. Go check Predator 1, their nailguns don't make a sound when fired… And them nails fly freakin' fast! Tusk and the other Pred here are both my own concepts of the Black Super Predators from the upcoming _Predators _film. I don't own them. So don't sue!

Anyhow, thanks for reading through this. I'll be sure to be super happy once I see the results in the story traffic section.

Stay sic!  
-Slipkn0T- out.


	4. 4 Hunting & Harvesting

A/N: And here's chapter 4, ladies and gents! From here, the story is really going to pitch into the horror/gore section. With all these teenage girls and the two ugliest - and deadliest - monsters in history around them, would you people expect any less? ;)

Enjoy!

* * *

**CHAPTER 4  
Hunting and Harvesting**

Ayaka cringed as she saw the spires of flame rising into the sky, blacking out the stars in thick pillars of smoke. Several bushes around lay incinerated around her, dead and black long before she came upon the site of the crash. Swallowing the knot that had formed in her throat, she pushed the foliage out of her way, breaking into a cold sweat at seeing one of the bodyguards' weapons melting into a small pool before the small trenches carved into the ground by the helicopter's crash, before her eyes fell upon the wreck itself, and they widened.

She fell to her knees as she saw the form of her mother hanging from the hatch on the wreck's side, nothing but a large chunk of ash and burned flesh. She choked slightly as the smell attacked her nostrils, and tears stung her eyes as she collapsed onto all fours, bawling loudly as her memories of her mother flashed through her mind. Slowly, she inched forwards, ignoring the putrid smell filling her nostrils. I was hard to see with all the tears in her eyes, but she could faintly make out the outline, and the smell of ash in between that of burning steel and flesh confirmed that she was near.

Idly reaching out, a single, loud sob escaped her lips as her fingers scraped against charred flesh. She instantly jerked her hand back, cradling it as she felt patches of salty wetness cover her cheeks as her tears flowed down them, dampening the shoulder areas of her jacket. Biting down on her lower lip, she slammed her eyes shut and reached out again, hand travelling past the burnt flesh until she felt the familiar softness of her mother's skin. Gathering the rest of her courage, she pried her eyes open as she gazed upon her mother's face.

The woman's eyes were still open, irises greyed out from the lack of life in them. Her mouth hung slightly open, and a small trickle of blood led down the side of her cheek, thinning on an area where Ayaka thought she felt dried tears as she cupped it. Moving her gaze down her mother's body, she saw a small pendant around her neck, a custom work made by Ayaka herself when she was six, which she gave her mother on mother's day that year. She gasped, realising how eager her mother must have been for her to come home as she remembered how she only wore that necklace on very special occasions. Extending a shaky hand, she pried it from her mother's neck with a loud sob, and extended her other hand to her mother's face, using her thumb to press her mouth shut, and running her fingers down her facing, closing the eyes. Even through her tears, Ayaka could not help but smile at how peaceful her mother looked. Closing her eyes, she bowed her head, sobbing again as she silently bade farewell to her mother.

Opening her eyes, the girl tried standing up to leave, but her eyes fell on a something that caught her immediately. Part of the business attire her mother wore carried a dark red stain near the ribs. Following it, Ayaka dropped the necklace in shock as her terrified cry caused the birds in the surrounding trees to scatter.

A large hole sat in the middle of her mother's chest, broken, bloodstained bones protruding from the sides as several pieces of intestine hung from it, hidden by the designer jacket of her mother's outfit. Ayaka felt her knees give way under as she fell onto her haunches, face paling at the sight of the way her mother died. Just then, the girl saw something she formerly missed: A large, pale-coloured spider lying dead beside her mother's face. A sticky, gooey tube hung limply from a hole in its centre, and its eight legs curled upwards like fingers as its tail snaked around the corpse's wrist. Ayaka stood up with a weak whimper, stepping back as she realised the one of guards suffered the same fate. A loud snap of a twig behind her caused her to spin around where she stood.

And her scream echoed through the forest as a black, bony hand wrapped around her neck, and her eyes met an open mouth, fangs sporting multiple layers of blood as its tongue, bearing another mouth, shot forwards.

* * *

Takane whipped her head in the direction of the scream, and Nutmeg covered behind her. Mei was groggily resting against Takane's body, muttering illiterate sentences under her breath. Takane quickly went back to supporting her underling, as Nutmeg gulped loudly and joined her, helping her keep Mei on her feet.

"Who do you think that was?" The glasses-wearing girl asked fearfully, voice pitching. "That sounded…"

"I know." Takane sighed; face falling as she gazed back into the distance. "But we cannot help. Mei is still too weak to get along on her own. I wonder what kind of healing magic they used on her… This stuff must be very potent if it stays in her system so long…"

"Why are we here, Takane-onee-sama?" Nutmeg asked suddenly. "Isn't this the first place they'll come looking for us?"

"It is." Takane huffed, half-dragging Mei's sleeping form down the road. "But I know that Negi Springfield resides on the campus. If anyone will help us and hear our side of the story, it's him and his friends."

"I know… But…" Nutmeg averted her gaze slightly. "The Dark Evangel's here too… And… And…"

"There's no need to be scared, Nutmeg." Takane smiled. "I know Negi-sensei can keep her check." Nutmeg fell silent as Takane returned her gaze to the road. After a while, her brow furrowed. "Nutmeg…" She called. "Aren't there supposed to be patrols around here?"

"Y-Yes…" Nutmeg squeaked, still fearfully gazing around her. "But it doesn't look like they've found us yet…"

"Come to think of it, I haven't _anyone_ since we got here…" She sighed, feeling Mei's limp body drag her down. "And I'm starting to ache from dragging her around…"

"Hey, I think I remember the one bathhouse being near here. We could go there and check if someone's there now." Nutmeg said. "At this time, _someone_ must be in there."

"I hope you're right." Takane huffed again. "For someone so small, she's rather heavy…"

"You can be glad she's still out of it…"

The two girls broke into a fit of laughter as they dragged the younger girl towards one of the buildings, blissfully ignorant of the sounds of snapping twigs and the scraping of steel on concrete to their left. With their attention turned from the adjacent building, the trio failed to see two near-invisible silhouettes sitting on their haunches atop it. Two bright flashes came from the first one's head, where one's eyes would be, and it uttered an angry, guttural growl as its eyes fell on Mei. With a loud snarl, it stood up, its counterpart following suit as it leapt from the building, tracking its newfound prey.

* * *

_Hmm? What… Where am I?_ Setsuna shook her head as she found herself in an unknown room. She awoke to a bright light piercing her shut eyelids, and groaned while she sat up, just as she realised the room was not her own. Quickly, she tossed the covers of the bunk bed aside and shot up, finding herself still fully dressed in her school uniform. Surveying her surroundings, she bit back a gasp as she realised Yuunagi wasn't in sight. Bewildered, she glanced around her, trying to find it.

"H-Hello? Is anyone here?" She asked cautiously, stepping forwards as softly as possible. The front door creaked, causing her to jump back and await the worst as the morning light cascaded into the room, further illuminating it. She tensed, balling her fists and getting into a stance, just as…

"Set-chan?"

Setsuna immediately calmed down at hearing the friendly voice. She heaved a sigh of relief as Konoka entered the room, wearing one of her bubbly smiles. "Sorry if I scared you, Set-chan. I just went out to find some more ingredients for the soup. You really shouldn't be up." The bubbly girls said as she strolled past her, putting a grocery bag down on the small table. "That poison was quite rough, I nearly missed healing you." She said, taking Setsuna by the shoulders with one hand while she put the other to the swordsgirl's forehead. "You still have a slight fever." She exclaimed. "Why did you get up? You need to rest."

"I…I just got a fright, ojou-sama." Setsuna said, hiding a slight blush at the closeness of their faces. "It was an unfamiliar room, so I…"

"I get it, Set-chan." She said, suddenly hugging her. "You scared me. I thought were going to… I mean… You came in all battered and wounded, and unconscious… It scared me." Setsuna smiled into Konoka's shoulder.

"Don't worry, ojou-sama." She assured the bubbly girl. "It takes more than a few drops of poison to kill me." Konoka remained silent.

"Then why did you lose?"

"Huh?" Setsuna tried to break the embrace in her confusion, but failed to do so.

"You came in unconscious, bloody and full of scars that looked like net patterns. So, that would mean you lost. Why?" She asked, head still buried in the crook of Setsuna's neck.

"I… I… Ojou-sama, I just-" The door creaked open again, and with Konoka's head in the way of her head, she craned her neck around the other way, only to see that nobody was there. The door had just shifted open._ Probably the wind…_ She thought with a blush as Konoka finally pulled away. Heaving a sigh of relief, she aimed to look back at Konoka when she felt a wet spot on her shoulder, spreading down her arm and side. _Tears_? She thought uncomfortably, turning her head to her shoulder. She gasped loudly when her eyes fell on her shoulder.

Blood.

In a panic she quickly pulled her shirt way from it, sighing in relief that there was no wound, before tensing again as her eyes widened. _But that must mean -_ She turned back to Konoka, and her scream failed to leave her throat.

A long, steel dart protruded from the bubbly girl's heart as the blood from the wound soaked her white shirt, turning it red. Two parallel wounds ran across her throat, and more covered her young face as blood rained down her cheeks, eyes gouged out of her head. With a panicked whimper, Setsuna backed away in disbelief. "K-Kono-chan?"

"You still haven't answered me." The dead Konoka replied, arcs of blood sprouting from the gashes in her neck. "Was it him?" She asked, raising her hand to point at something behind Setsuna. The girl immediately spun around, and her scream failed again as a pale hand, fingertips lined with short, black claws, wrapped around her throat, hoisting her into the air. Straining her breathing against the strong, vice-like grip on her neck, she glanced down. Her attacker growled at her from behind its tusked mask as its dreadlocks dangled beside it, forehead covered in numerous glyphs and runes as the red lenses across its eyes locked with her. Just then, the beast raised its arm and flicked its wrist, as two jagged, sharp claws shot out from its gauntlet.

Just as it swiped at Setsuna's face, her scream finally left her as the claws tore into her flesh, before everything turned pitch dark… and then bright white.

* * *

With a shrill scream, Setsuna shot upwards, clutching the white sheet to her chest as her heart pounded loudly in her ears. The knot in her throat was so big, she found it hard to swallow at first, and only when she pried one of her hands, pale and matted with cold sweat, from the covers of the bed, she realised that she was shaking uncontrollably. Swallowing several times to get rid of the knot in her throat, she scanned her surroundings with a few whimpers. "Set-chan!" She quickly whipped her head in the direction of the double doors as Konoka burst in, the mask of worry and fear on her face sharply contrasting the one she saw in her dream. _Dream… It was a dream…_ Setsuna kept panting as Konoka sat down beside her on the bed, just as Kaede, Negi and Mana entered. "A-Are you okay, Set-chan?" Konoka asked worriedly, placing a hand on the girl's forehead. "We just heard a scream coming from here, and we thought…"

"We thought those things came back." Mana said when Konoka's voice died in her throat. "That tusked one left a mark on your back. One that was singed into your skin. Konoka managed to heal it slightly, but there's still a scar. We thought that it might have marked you, so it might come back for you."

"I-I'm fine…" Setsuna sputtered, clutching the sheets to her chest. "I-It was just a n-nightmare… Nothing more…" She said again, still shaking from what she saw in her dream. _It felt so real…_ She thought, burying her face in the sheets, which were bunched up around her knees. _I almost believed it _was_ real… W-What's happening to me! "_How long was I…?_"_

"About three hours now" Negi answered her. "You were poisoned, Setsuna-san." He said with a worried expression. "According to Chachamaru, the fact that you held out so long against it is almost superhuman. She said that the neurotoxin they injected into you would have stopped a normal person's heart in less than two minutes." Setsuna's eyes visibly widened.

"Then… Then I should've been…" She glanced around her. "But how…"

"Konoka's pactio artefact." Negi said. "Her one fan can cure status ailments, remember?" Konoka nodded at this.

"I cured you, Set-chan." She said with a look of worry on her face. "If I think of what might've happened… If Mana-chan wasn't near you… you'd have…"

"Relax, Kono-chan." Setsuna said, gripping the bubbly girl by the shoulders, making her fall silent at hearing the use of her pet name. "I-I'm fine. Just a bit shaken… That's all… I'll be fine, thanks to you." Konoka whimpered at Setsuna's words, immediately latching onto her body.

"I was so s-scared…" She said softly. "When you came in, all t-the wounds… the mark on your back… I didn't know what t-to think, and I only found out what Mana told everyone after I h-healed you." She pulled back slowly. "Please… Don't ever do that t-to me again, Set-chan… If something ever happened to you, I don't know how I… I…" The young heiress' lower lip trembled as her voice died out again, and she latched onto Setsuna in another embrace.

Setsuna sighed as she tentatively placed a hand on Konoka's back, closing her eyes in an attempt to banish the remaining visions of the dream. "You know it takes more than a few drops of poison to take me from your side, Kono-chan." She said softly, only for Konoka to hear. "I will not leave you. Not because of these monsters. I will not let it happen again, Kono-chan…" She said softly, stroking the back of Konoka's head with her free hand. "I promise you."

* * *

Outside, just below the windowsill, a mess of black limbs unfurled from one of the crevices in the wall. With a soft hiss, the creature crawled around the window's frame, black dome shining in the moonlight as its bony body hovered above the wall. Three others like it hopped from the bushes, and six more descended from the roof, sticking to the side of the building like insects as they neared one of the ventilation fans. With a snarl, two of the smaller creatures spat a sickly green liquid at it, and with a collection of sizzling sounds, it ate through the fan in an instant. With another muffled hiss, one of the creatures leapt headfirst into the opening, followed closely by its brethren as they traversed the vents, seeking their next victims.

* * *

The double doors burst open again, and Setsuna jumped slightly as Takamichi, Evangeline and Chachamaru entered. Takamichi had a very serious look on his face, but a few traces of worry mixed with the mask. "We need to leave campus as soon as possible." He said sternly.

"What? Why?" Mana asked, turning to face him.

"Did something happen, Takamichi?" Negi asked turning his attention away from Setsuna and Konoka.

"We've just received word from Sister Shakti and Kuzunoha-san." Takamichi said softly. "The convoy that was to escort the richer students has been attacked. Nobody survived." He said sadly. "That is why we must leave immediately." He looked around as Asuna entered the room too.

"What's going on?" She asked, seeing the shocked expressions on everyone's faces. "Did something happen?"

"The convoy that was sent to extract the rich students was ambushed." Mana filled her in. "Everyone was killed."

"What!" Asuna cried. "But... But isn't that where Ayaka went?" She asked worriedly. Her frustration built when Negi and Konoka averted their eyes, and she frowned as everyone else fell eerily silent. "What aren't you telling me?" Negi gulped as he met her eyes.

"Ayaka-san's chopper came earlier." He said with a guilt-ridden voice. "I… Someone attacked it… It was shot down…" Asuna's eyes widened slightly. "She ran off… We don't know where she is now."

"Wha… How could she just run off!" Asuna raged. "That… That stupid little -"

"That's enough, Asuna." Takamichi said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We'll find her, just like we'll find everyone else, but we must focus on everyone in this hospital first. They come first, especially since we don't know what these monsters are yet. We don't even know why they're here. So we _must_ focus on getting the others to safety before we can focus on retrieving everyone who went missing."

"That seems like the most logical way to start." Eva said from beside Chachamaru. "Even as we are now, we won't last forever against these monsters, not with these few numbers. We need to regroup, as soon as possible." No sooner had the words left her mouth, when all the lights suddenly died out, making her furrow her brow in anger. "What now!"

* * *

Several sparks flew as the power lines outside fell to the ground, separated from the tower that stood far outside the large hospital building. With a loud snarl, Project X slashed at yet another cable, severing it before the stream of electricity could relay into its body as its dreadlocks swayed wildly in the wind. An orchestra of hisses, snarls and soft screeches played out behind it as more and more of its kin entered the ventilation shafts of the hospital, several more opting to try and enter through the vents at the top of the building as they scurried up the side of the building. With a loud roar, it leapt from the tower, soaring through the air until its feet met the ground, and leapt again until it landed next to the large building. With another mighty leap, its feet met the edge of the hospital's roof as it laned. Growling, it lumbered towards the large hole in the roof, roughly tracing the same pheromones it smelt earlier, when it passed the small wooden cottage. Casting a glance into the horizon, it leapt into the large shaft with another growl, intent on finding its prey.

* * *

"The power's down?" Konoka asked, warily eyeing the dark room. "But that's not supposed to happen!" She cried as Mana stalked over to the window, pulling the curtain aside to investigate the reason of the power failure. "There's no storm out there, so it can't be…" She grimaced when she saw the cut power cables' sparks in the distance, and glanced at the tower. "Someone has cut the power."

"What? Why!" Konoka asked, appalled at the deed. "There are people here who need the machines powered! They could die without -" A soft, distant humming sound met their ears as several of the smaller lights came back on.

"The backup generator." Setsuna sighed in relief. "It may not be big enough to power the whole building, but at least now the bare essentials are working." She noticed Evangeline walking over to the window with Chachamaru shortly behind her. Glancing through the window at the area that the sparks were coming from, she studied the area around the tower.

"It looks like those cables were cut where they connected to the tower." She observed. "If that's the case, shouldn't whoever cut them be dead or dying by now?"

"Yes…" Negi answered with a curious look. "The electricity would've been conducted into their bodies because they were in contact with the tower. What are you getting at, Master?"

"There are no bodies on or around that tower." She said, pointing at it. "Whoever cut those cables should have fallen off their perch from the shock they'd receive." She turned back to the tower. "Whoever did that must have…" Her voice died out when her eyes fell on the pale, green-black substance that was trailing down the window. With a curious look, she opened the window and stuck her index finger into it, resulting in a few sickening squelching sounds. Pulling her finger back into the room, she studied it closely before turning to Chachamaru. "What is this?" She asked as the others drew closer to them.

"Eeeew!" Konoka shivered, ducking behind Setsuna again. "That looks gross!"

"It looks like some kind of slime." Mana said, squinting at it. "Some kind of mucus, perhaps."

"Tatsumiya-san is partly correct." Chachamaru said as several numbers and formulas ran over her green eyes. "That substance is a mixture of mucus and saliva, the latter being the predominant ingredient."

"So it's someone's spit?" Eva asked with a disgusted expression. "I wonder whose…" She said, leaning her head out of the window and looking up. She stifled as gasp at what she saw, eyes widening substantially. As soon as she looked out, she saw two black, ridged tails disappear into the now destroyed air vent, bladed tips gleaming in the moonlight as a soft, almost muffled screech met her ears. She immediately flicked the spittle from her finger and pulled back into the room. "We need to leave. Immediately." She told the others.

"What! We can't!" Konoka cried. "What about-"

"Worrying about the other patients is useless now." Evan said sternly. "That snakes I told you people about are here." She said, earning gasps from most of the people. "Everyone in this building is as good as dead if they don't escape now." She looked at them seriously.

"That includes us."

* * *

Ayaka's voice was stuck in her throat, forming a large knot as she gazed at the scene before her, horrified at what was taking place. The black creature that attacked her flew off her body after pinning her to the ground. She saw the air distort slightly, before a loud _crack_ came from its lower back, causing it to shriek in agony. For the first time, she saw her attacker clearly. She gasped as she saw herself, filthy, sobbing and bleeding, reflecting in the shiny dome covering the creature's elongated head all the way to the back. She took note of its clawed hands, four fingers forming fists as its arms flailed around it. Its tail lay beside it, severed from its body as its blood poured from the short stump, eating away at the ground like acid. A second mouth shot from its jaw, slamming shut a few inches from her face, and she finally fell back and screamed again, covering her mouth soon afterwards. With a loud growl coming from behind the creature, two areas under its chin burst, acidic blood raining to the ground. She gasped again as she saw the blood coat two invisible objects, rendering them partly visible.

Two blades.

Two jagged, razor-sharp blades protruded from the creatures head, as its body fell limp, lifeless as the two blades disappeared from its skull, allowing its corpse to fall to the ground with a loud _thud_. She looked at the distorted air with a horrified expression, sobbing slightly as she crawled back on all fours, tracing the footsteps that etched themselves into the ground. She jumped at the loud whizzing sound that entered the air, and several blue dots appeared before her, around the distorted area, gradually growing to expose pale flesh and gun-gray armour. Whimpering fearfully, she gazed at the muscular creature with a mix of fascination and fear, clasping a hand over her mouth when she saw the rows of fangs in the sunken cheeks of its mask, the spiked hide sewn onto the sides of it, and the solid black, motorcyclist-like lens over its eyes. Glancing down at Ayaka's former attacker, it uttered a series of loud clicks, before turning back to the girl. With a loud growl and a flick of its wrist, the two blades extended, glinting in the moonlight as it bore down on her.

She fell forwards in her struggle to escape, and started sobbing loudly again as she sat on her knees, looking the creature directly in the eye as she cried. "P-Please… Please d-don't hurt me… I-I beg you… I d-didn't do anything wrong!" She begged, falling on to her backside as she moved back, desperately trying to avoid the creature. It growled again, almost threateningly as it neared her, and she fell back down on all fours just as it raised its arm. "N-No! Please! Don't-"

It struck.

A loud screech drew her scream from her, and she fell forwards as a ridged tail collided with her, knocking her off her feet as the tip tore into her back with a swipe. Her scream hitched as she landed on her stomach, and she coughed when the landing knocked the air from her lungs. Heaving and panting, she scurried up on all fours and turned to see the armoured monster violently driving his other two blades up another black snake creature's stomach, as its other two claws pinned its tail against a tree trunk. With a loud screech, the black creature's arms arched upwards, and fell limply to its sides; body still suspended in the air by the armoured one's blades. With a loud growl, it pulled its two elongated claws from the dead creature's tail and tossed its body aside with its other arm. With two flicks of its wrists, the blades retracted as the armoured monster turned to face her, softly growling and clicking as it did so.

"You… You s-saved me…" She spoke, tears stopped by the shock she experienced. The armoured creature only glared at her, growling once before disappearing, becoming nothing but a transparent haze before darting off, leaving the blonde girl on her own. Still shaken, Ayaka stood up and looked in the direction her saviour had fled. "W-Why?" She pondered, glancing at the two black creatures lifelessly sprawled on the ground. "What are these things?" She asked glancing around her before her sobs came again.

"What's going on here!"

* * *

"I'm disappointed, Satomi."

Corban sighed with mock disappointment as he gazed upon Satomi's beaten, bruised form. His henchman had already taken to replacing the bloodstained bandage around his hand, and the young girl spat out blood pushing up from her stomach as she sat hunched in the chair, bound by her wrists, ankles and waist. "Not only do we find out that you've had almost _no _success studying our fallen comrade X2," he stated, beckoning to the henchman to line up, "we also find out that you lack the funds to pay us for this little… _expedition_." He frowned. "So far, over forty of my men have died for less than small change from yet another over-ambitious, soulless nerd." He looked at her. "We can't have that now, can we?"

"I told you…" Satomi spat blood again, shaking from the numerous cuts and bruises on her face. "I was going to wait for the payouts to come… and then I'd have paid you double…" She panted. "These… These new species… They're-"

"I've had enough of your wild theories." He said, throwing a command at the henchman with his hand. With a grunt, he pulled his arm back, and delivered a crushing punch straight into the girl's face. She yelped as she felt her already broken nose crack again under the impact, and winced when she felt the cartridge break again, causing even more blood to stream from her nostrils. "Your opinions of these monsters only serve to get my men killed. Now you only serve as our little 'intel operative'. That reminds me…" He said, ordering the henchman to stand down with another hand-command. He stalked over to her and grabbed hold of her loose hair, yanking her head back to look up at him. "One of my men informed me the Xenos attacked a group of girls near here. Apparently, their teacher did something real amazing… I believe the girls called him… What was it again?" He called to the henchman.

"Seruhiko." He replied gruffly.

"Seruhiko… That's right." Corban grinned as he saw Satomi's eyes widen slightly at hearing his name. "From what I hear, he used a short staff and a funny language to shoot some kinda beam at one of the Xenos before killed. Now, what kinda weapon can do that?" He chuckled as Satomi's face wavered, and she averted her eyes from him gaze. "I'm correct if I say no such weapon exists yet, am I not?" He asked, grabbing her by her aching face and forcing her to look at him. "Then that girl with the white wings wasn't using some weird gimmick either, was she? I wonder what it could be… It's got my men quite riled up. They can't stop watching the footage…" He smirked when he heard her gasp, signalling he was on the right track. Slowly, he leaned down, placing his face beside hers, before speaking in a whisper, "It can't possibly be magic… _Can it_?" He slowly pulled back and laughed heartily at seeing her pale face. "Something tells me I've hit the nail right on the head."

"You're a fool… If you think I'll tell you anything…" Satomi spat at him, covering half of his face in her blood. She broke into a cold sweat she saw him lick a drop of it off his lips.

"I've seen enough blood to take a liking to it, bitch…" He mocked her. "I was hoping you'd be this stubborn, makes my job _much_ more fun…" He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a cigar cutter and handing it to the henchman. Next, he pulled out a ball gag, and quickly tied it around her head, effectively muffling her screams. "Take off each finger on her left hand, knuckle by knuckle, as slow as humanly possible." He said. "That thing's edges aren't jagged for nothing. Wait till I start with _my_ fun, and then you give her hell." He strode over to the one table, and picked up a small fishhook and a scalpel. "You know, Hakase, it's a real pity." He said, striding over to her.

With one quick, effortless movement, he pulled her lower eyelid down and pierced it with the hook, drawing a loud scream from her muffled mouth. "Closing your eye will spoil my fun. I don't want that happening, especially since this is my _favourite_ way of making a prisoner see sense, regardless of whether they want to or not." Satomi started to quiver as she saw the madness in his eyes, his evil smirk causing her bladder to release itself as she felt the warm fluid flow onto the seat and down her legs. Slowly, Corban raised the scalpel until the point aimed straight at her eye.

"If you won't _see_ reason, Hakase," He grinned, "You won't _see_ anything at all. Now," He said, slightly probing her eye with the tip of the small surgical blade. She felt her teeth tear at the gag as her scream collided with it. She felt a warm, sticky fluid drip into her eye and cascade down her cheek. Smirking, Corban pulled the scalpel away.

"Now, you _will_ tell me who is proficient in magic on that campus, and if you do," He grinned evilly, "I might consider letting you keep _one_ of your eyes…"

* * *

Takane exhaled heavily as she set Mei down on one of the slabs a few feet from the bathhouse. Wearily glancing at it, she frowned slightly at seeing how close, yet how very far it seemed. Her legs ached from the trek across campus, searching for someone who could help, to no avail. People were either too far for her to catch up to them, or too busy running around for some reason. Nutmeg slumped down next to the sleeping girl. "Just how potent is that healing magic?" She whined. "It shouldn't take this long!"

"I know." Takane sighed as she leaned against the wall. "Even though it is quite potent, she should have woken up hours ago. This… This sleep is _not_ an effect of the magic. Something else must be going on here…"

"Like what?" Nutmeg asked innocently. "What could be wrong here?"

"I don't exactly know…" Takane answered truthfully. She had thought about it since they left, ran away as Nutmeg called it, but she still could not come up with a rational answer. "It could be because of something that happened at that temple, but-" She jumped as she realised what topic she reached, and quickly slapped a hand over her mouth.

Nutmeg chuckled nervously and averted her gaze, suddenly looking at the ground with great interest. Her fingers were intertwined, fidgeting with each other as her shoulders tensed. _Takane Goodman, you stupid fool!_ The older mentally chided as she turned and placed an arm around Nutmeg's shoulders, causing them to slacken a little. "I'm sorry…" She said. "I wasn't thinking when I said it. I should've-"

"It… It's not your fault…" Nutmeg cut her off. "It… It's time for me to get over what happened and s-stop my snivelling…" She said. Takane frowned at herself when she heard how shaky the younger girl's voice was.

"It's not a shame to be scared of what happened, Megumi." Takane said, causing the girl to jump at the sudden use of her name. "You nearly died… It takes a long time to get over that."

"B-But it… It makes me seem so weak…" The younger girl replied, trying her best to keep from crying. "I'm n-not supposed to cry over it any m-more…" Takane sighed at hearing the girl.

"Harrington told you that, didn't he?" Megumi only nodded, hiding her shameful expression. "That bastard…" Takane seethed, suddenly standing up, before kneeling in front of the younger girl. "You can't believe what that man said to you. He's an unreliable, distrustful snake who will do everything he can to get to lick his boss' boots, and he didn't have the right to tell you that."

"But… But he…"

"No buts." Takane smiled. "If anyone should be ashamed, it's him for being such an ass." She smiled, drawing a small smirk from Megumi, which eventually split into a wide smile and a giggle.

"You're funny when you're angry…" She said with a snigger. "I almost feel sorry for Harrington."

"Why is that?"

"I know what'll happen if you ever find him again." She sniggered again. "I think-"

_SNAP!_

Both girls whipped their heads in the direction of the sound, scanning the bushy area beside them. The lights coming from the bathhouse may have cast some light on them, but the area they were looking at was pitch dark. "Onee…Sama?" A soft groan came from beside them, and they saw Mei wearily sitting up. The two girls quickly scurried to her side, taking her by her arms to steady her. "Wha… Where am… I?" She asked with heavy eyes. "Where… Where is Gandolfini-san?"

"We're on Mahora, Mei." Takane answered with a relieved smile. "We're here looking for Negi-sensei. How do you feel?"

"Tired…" Mei replied groggily. "And my chest hurts… And my head aches…" She groaned. "So basically I'm peachy." Takane suppressed a giggle at this._ She's still a bit high from the healing magic,_ She thought to herself with a smile. "I'm tired…" Mei groaned again, trying to stand up. The first try ended in failure, as she fell back onto the slab, but with a few more tries she was successfully on her feet and able to walk, albeit with a bit of a sway to her step. "I feel drunk…" She said, clinging onto Takane's arm with closed eyes. "Look drunk too…" She groaned.

"Come on." Takane smiled. "There might be someone in that bathhouse who can help us find Negi-sensei." She said as the trio began walking to the building, unaware of the movement tracking them in the shadows. With a hiss, the skeletal figure shot forwards, bearing straight at the bathhouse, relishing in the pheromones it traced in the air, pheromones that meant only one thing.

There were humans to harvest.

* * *

"Sakurako!" Misa called at her fellow cheerleader from her bunk. "I think one of your cats is outside again. He wants to come in, and the meowing is driving me crazy!" She called, tired of the constant scratching against the door. "Hurry up!"

"Okay, okay, hold your horses!" Sakurako replied, quickly exiting the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head. "I heard him, but I was busy washing my hair. Exactly why couldn't _you_ open the door?"

"The little imp runs away each time!" Misa cried irately. "Just when you bend over to pick him up, he runs off!"

"It's a cat, Kakizaki." Madoka sighed from the top bunk. "Ten to one he's just in a playful mood. Honestly…" Sakurako turned away and opened the door, grumbling to herself as she looked down at the black and white cat. "Hey, Cookie!" She called. "C'mere!" She cat let out a loud _meow_, turned on the spot and trotted off, stopping at one of the corners, letting out a playful mew. "Oh, you." Sakurako sighed with a smile, before walking over to her cat. Cookie quickly whipped its head down the hall, and hissed loudly, spitting now and then. "Cookie? What's going on, boy?" Just as she neared the cat, he shot from where he was sitting, snaking between her legs before disappearing into the dorm room. "Wonder what that was all about…" She said, glancing down the hall.

Suddenly, a pale spider-like creature shot up from the shadows, legs arching backwards as it rocketed towards her face. Only a fraction of her terrified scream managed to escape her throat before it slammed into her face, causing her to fall forwards, tumbling down the stairs.

"What was that?" Madoka asked fearfully. "That sounded like…"

"Sakurako's in trouble!" Misa quickly shot from her bunk, grabbing a torch that was lying on the table. "We need to go help!" She said as she Madoka shot out of the door, bearing down their friend's location. "This way." Madoka pointed down the stairs, seeing their friend lying face-down on the cold floor. "Sakurako!" She cried, skidding to a halt and falling to her knees next to her knees, shaking the fallen girl. "Wake up! Please!"

"Dammit…" Misa hissed. "This was probably that cat of hers' fault. If she'd just… just…" Her voice died when they turned the girl over, and her eyes widened. Madoka screamed as she saw the spider that attached itself to the girl's face, the two small bags hanging from its sides pulsating as its tail tightened around her neck. She stumbled onto the stairs, tripping and falling just as a strong hand seized her by the throat, pulling her from her perch and tossing her against the wall. Her vision started to swim as she heard Misa call out her name, and she shook her head to clear it. Just as she regained focus, she saw her attacker and screamed.

Misa charged at the creature, swinging the torch with all her might, only for it to hop back, its ridged tail swaying in front of it as the hallway lights reflected off its dome-like head. It took a while for Madoka to realise the girl was shivering uncontrollably, and she only just notice how pale she was. The creature hissed again and pulled its lips back, exposing its bloodstained fangs. Misa swung the torch again, hoping to strike the creature as it attacked. Her plan went awry as the creature ducked under her swing and lashed out with its talons, knocking her clean off her feet, sending her cartwheeling down the stairs. A loud _crack_ came from her left arm as she landed, and she screamed in pain. Madoka remained frozen on the spot, quivering from the fear the monster brought on.

Misa gasped as she felt its bony hand around her throat, and before she could register it, she was lifted off the ground. The creature hissed as it slammed her into the wall, causing her to yelp as she closed her eyes. "M-Madoka! Help!" She cried, trying to shake her dizziness away. Her friend's plea registering in her mind, Madoka shook herself from her daze and grabbed hold of the torch. With a determined cry, she ran at the monster, preparing to swing. The monster, in turn, snarled at her as its tail shot out, slamming into her waist with enough force to life her off her feet and send her flying. With a loud _crash,_ the girl flew through the window, shattering it as she fell from the floor where they were. Misa gasped, breath leaving her lungs, rendering her voice useless as Madoka's body arched through the window's frame, several shards tearing through her pyjamas, cutting her sides, thighs, shoulders and cheeks as she uttered a wordless scream before disappearing from sight.

She tried again to scream, but it refused to come through. Two more creatures, similar to the one grasping her by her throat, escorted another spider through the window, and shortly after, Madoka's horrified cry reached her ears, before something cut her off. Tears stung at her eyes and her voice only came out in soft, inaudible whimpers as she gazed at her attacked. Slowly, it pulled its lips back again, opening its mouth in a loud snarl that sent wafts of its putrid breath onto her face. Her eyes locked on another mouth within its mouth, slowly creeping forwards until it was completely visible. Then it shot forward.

Her voice finally returned to her, and she uttered an ear-piercing scream as she felt the small fangs shear into her skin, tearing flesh away as it drilled into her skull. Her vision cut out and an unbearable amount of pain shot through her head as the teeth cracked her skull, staying that way for a brief moment before the darkness took her.

* * *

"Shouldn't you have turned that in, Yuna?" Ako asked as she, Yuna, Akira and Makie sat in the bathhouse. Yuna was currently playing with two of the guns she had kept from the Mars vs. Mages battle during the festival, and was playfully aiming at the bubbles her soap conjured in the water as she soaked.

"Never! They're way too cool." Yuna said, fiddling with one of the toy-shaped weapons. "I kicked some serious butt with these, there's no way I'll simply forget them or leave them there." She shrugged. "I grown fond of them."

"You think so because you shot robots with toy guns?" Akira asked, floating in the water.

"They're not toy guns, damn it!" Yuna raged. "How many times do I have to say that?" She said, rising from the water and reaching for her soap again. "You guys are judging books by their covers… I swear-"

_**SPLASH!**_

"What was that?" Makie asked as she glanced at the area the splash came from. "Is someone else here?"

"Nobody should be in here at this time. At least, not now…" Ako pondered. "It doesn't look like anyone's there, anyway."

"Pity. I was hoping to show you guys these _aren't_ toys…" Yuna smirked, tapping the side of one of her guns with her trigger finger. "Besides - huh?" She glanced down at the water when she saw several ripples appear in an area in front of her. "What the-" Her question was replaced by a yelp as she felt to strong hands grab onto her ankles, yanking her feet out from under her. Her friends' cries drowned out in her ears as the water submerged her, and the strong hands gripped her by her waist, pinning her to the floor of the large pool. Several bright flashes illuminated the water as her guns discharged, surging out of the water as she flailed wildly. She felt sharp claws rip into her shins, pressing her feet down as the strong hands moved to her arms, pinning them to her ample chest as she struggled. Through all the bubbles, she just barely made out a black shadow leaning over her, skeletal body distorted in the bubbles. She saw her own eyes, wide with fear, reflect in the dome on her attacker's head, before her eyes met with a small mouth lined with teeth, jetting forwards through the water. With a loud _crack_ muffled by the water, her vision faded to black just as two softer hands seized her by her wrists, pulling her up.

"Yuna? Yuna! Are you okay?" Makie cried, pulling her friend from the water with Akira and Ako's assistance. "Talk to us! Yuna, are you… you…" Her eyes widened at the red hue the water took on, and she impulsively let go of the girl's arm, causing Ako and Akira to frown at her. "…Yuna?" As if on cue, Yuna's head fell backwards and, for a minute, time seemed to freeze as the three girls saw the large hole in her head, blood tapping into the water with each passing second. They screamed as their senses finally returned to them, and they attempted to run from the pool, movements marred by the now crimson water. Suddenly, a hand shot from the pool, latching onto Ako's wrist as Yuna's attacker made its presence known. Ako screamed as its domed head slammed into her face, dazing her, while its talons ripped at her bare body, opening wounds on her chest, arm and thigh as she cried for help. Akira dove underwater as its sharp tail shot at her, tossing Makie aside as she did so. The gymnast quickly shot out of the pool, but slipped and fell back in during her struggle.

Ako cried, as she smelled the blood in its breath. She tasted bile as her nausea pushed up from her stomach, causing her to gag on her breath. The creature grabbed her by her hair, lifting her up and placing its other hand on her chin before craning her head around.

The door burst open as three girls stormed in. Ako recognised one of them immediately. Takane D Goodman, one of Negi's competitors during the Mahora Martial Arts Festival. The angered girl's expression quickly changed to one of shock as she saw Yuna's dead body floating in the water, and Ako saw her apprentice, Mei, and the other girl with them freeze at the sight of the monster pinning her down. The creature glared at them, baring its fangs and hissing madly as it slammed Ako down on the tiled floor, dazing her.

Mei could not believe what she was seeing. As if it were a cruel twist of fate, the demon that had attacked her in the temple, the one that ruled her very dreams was _here_, in front of her now. Her entire body froze, and she felt warm liquid soiling her pants as her bladder gave in. She paled at seeing the dome covered head, the sharp talons, the skeletal body and the sharp, ridged tail swaying behind it, and she remembered one of their faces scarcely inches from hers. She heard Nutmeg whimper beside Takane, followed by a loud _thump_ from behind them, accompanied by a girlish yelp, signalling that the girl had fallen over.

She saw Ako's tears streaming down her face as Akira shot from the water, tackling the creature and forcing it off its feet as its head slammed into the edge of the pool, cracking it. The taller girl dove back into the water just as its tail shot at where she previously stood. The creatures hissed, glancing back at the still waters, scanning it for its attacker. It reared its head, arched its back and screeched, making Takane and the other girl cover their ears. Several more _crash_es met their ears as shards of glass fell into the pool, and six more creatures entered through the skylight. Takane frowned again, seeing the creature seize Ako by her ankle and drag her back as the other six shot into the water. As if on cue, Akira shot out of the water again, this time behind it as she aimed to dive into it. Before Takane or Akira could react, however, a loud _snikt_ echoed through the bathhouse as Akira dove straight into the creature's sharp tail. _That wasn't there before, _Takane thought, shocked at how the creature guessed where Akira would appear. _It… It outsmarted her! _

The creature snarled as it tossed Akira's bleeding body at two if its kin as the other four guarded its flank. Shaking herself from her shocked state, Takane immediately sprung into action as six of her shadow minions took form, and her elaborate shadow armour decorated her body. The minions shot forwards, attacking each of the six newcomers as Takane herself went for the one terrorising Ako. With a flick of her wrist, as shard of shadows shot at the creature, impaling it in its side as it flew upwards from the force, sickly green blood squirting onto Ako's arm.

The silver-haired girl's screams drew Takane's attention from her opponent, and she clasped a hand over her mouth, eyes widening as the blood started eating through arm. The green liquid mixed with her blood as it started attacking the bones in her arm, chewing through it in a matter of seconds. To Takane's amazement, within a few seconds the acidic blood separated Ako's arm from her body, the limb lying next to the girl as she screamed in anguish and horror. Takane saw that the creature she had attacked was still reeling from the blow, and she saw Akira crawling from the battle raging on the other side of the bathhouse. "You!" She called at Makie, making the crying girl look at her fearfully. "Get your friend! She needs you!" She cried, quickly grabbing a towel and rushing to Ako's side. Quickly and efficiently, she had tied the towel around the stump that was Ako's arm as Makie wrapped a towel around herself before helping Akira to her feet. Four more of Takane's shadow minions materialised, two running to replace the one that the six creatures had slain, while the other two charged at her opponent, now standing up from the wrecked bedding that it landed on after her attack.

Slowly, Takane wrapped another towel around Akira's chest, closing the wound up as Makie wrapped a towel around Ako, sobbing loudly as she watched the girl writhe in pain. Takane finished up with Akira and helped her up, beckoning to Makie to do the same with Ako. She glanced at Mei and Nutmeg. The former girl still stood transfixed on the spot, tears streaming down her deathly pale face as she watched the seven creatures battle Takane's minions, and Nutmeg had run to the corner of bathhouse, where she sat on her haunches, sobbing loudly. "Megumi!" Takane called to her, supporting Akira's limp body against hers. "Get to Mei! We're leaving!" She called, summoning more shadow warriors to fight the beasts. Nutmeg simply stared at her blankly, as if she did not understand, tears streaming down her face as her small body racked with sobs. "Snap out of it, Megumi!" She called fearfully, seeing the seven monsters push her warriors closer to them. "Mei needs you!" As soon as she finished her sentence, four sharp talons carved into her back, drawing a loud scream from her as she dropped Akira.

"O… Onee… sama?" Mei muttered, when she heard Takane's scream, fixing her gaze on her mentor as one of the shadow minions pulled the monster back. With a flick of its tail, one of the minions' head flew from its shoulders before dissipating. "No…" She muttered, her artefact seemingly forming in her hands by itself, as if by her will. "No!" She screamed angrily, tears flowing freely down her face as she raised her broom in the direction of the monsters. "You will not harm my sempai! _Flagarantia Rubicans_!" She cried, firing a large blast of fire at the creatures. Their screeches reverberated off the walls as they were burned alive, flailing and snarling as loudly as they could. "Onee-sama!" She cried, rushing over to Takane, who held up a hand as she slowly stood up. "I'm fine… Go get Nutmeg! I'll help here…" She huffed, standing up and helping Akira to her feet. Mei wasted no time, rushing over to Nutmeg's side and pulling her to her feet, ignoring the cries escaping her mouth as she dragged the girl from the corner. Takane pulled Akira towards the door, followed closely by Makie and Ako, both sobbing loudly as they ran to Mei and Nutmeg, waiting for them by the double doors.

Glancing back into the room, Mei saw five of the creatures crawling towards them, screeching loudly as their bodies sizzled in the flame. With a look of pure rage on her face, she raised her broom again. "_Captus Flammeus!_" Upon chanting her spell, several ropes of flame shot from the ground, tangling the creatures' bodies, choking them on the fiery ropes. "I h-hope you monsters die slowly…" She muttered through her tears, slamming the double doors just as the creatures' shrieks had reached their peak.

* * *

"Dammit! Which way?" Evangeline seethed as they stormed through the now abandoned hospital. "How many passages can this damned building have!"

"We need to turn left here, mistress." Chachamaru said in a monotonous voice, eyes flickering as several sparks shot from the hole in her chest. "There are nineteen more passages and seven large rooms to go after this turn, according to the building's blueprints." Several more sparks flew from the hole in her chest.

"Are you okay, Chachamaru?" Takamichi asked with a concerned voice.

"Please, don't tell me you're going to break down at a time like _this_…" Eva said irately. Negi thought he had heard a light hint of concern in her voice, and a quick glance to Setsuna and Asuna proved it. "The last thing we need is our guide out of here shutting down…" The small vampire continued.

"My sensors indicate I have seven minutes and forty-two seconds before my body automatically shuts down, mistress. We need to utilise that time to…" The gynoid's voice fell silent as everybody grimaced at the sight before them.

"What the…" Takamichi gawked at the hallway, removing his glasses to ensure his eyes were not fooling him.

"Gross!" Asuna said with disgusted expression.

"Wh… What is this?" Negi asked in disbelief.

"I don't know…" Mana said, readying her guns. "And that normally spells trouble."

The hallway before them no longer looked like it should. An organic, greenish-black material covered the wall, arching into mounds and strips across the floor, forming small bumps as large cocoons of the same material covered the walls. A shiny mixture of spit and light foam covered the material, and several of the hospital's patients were cocooned into the walls, eyes lifeless as their blood leaked from the large, gaping holes in their chest. Konoka instinctively leapt behind Setsuna again, quivering as she hugged her guardian from behind. Mana and Setsuna steeled their gazes, readying their weapons for an attack.

"Good lord… What happened here?" Negi asked, astonished at the display.

"It must be the snakes…" Eva muttered, turning to face the group. "We can't stay here. As I said, our numbers are few, and we'll end up like them," she beckoned to the dead patients, "if we don't hurry."

"Then lead the way." Takamichi said, putting his glasses back on.

"Where to now, Chachamaru?" Eva asked, turning to the gynoid. "I hardly know where we're going in this mess."

"One of the wards is ahead of us, mistress." She responded. "It could spare us time and the probability of an ambush from the snakes if we go through it, but it also means moving deeper into this hive-like area." Evangeline frowned at hearing the gynoid's response.

"So what do we do now?" She asked, turning to the rest of the group. "Go around and possibly get attacked, or go through and possibly get attacked. Which is it?"

"I vote for going around." Takamichi said seriously. "We can't risk going deeper into this… this _thing_."

"I second that." Negi said, raising his hand. "It's far too dangerous."

"I say we go through." Asuna said with a blank expression. "It's a shortcut, so it's one of the better options."

"Anyone who will second her?" Eva asked. Setsuna, Mana and Konoka all raised their hands. "Then we go through…" She huffed. "Come on." With a soft click, they pushed open the double doors. The moonlight cascading through the windows cast ominous lights across the dark room, illuminating the wet, organic material. It spread across the roof area of this room, acting as support beams and ramps leading up to the walls, and most of the doors were sealed with the same material. Konoka gasped as she looked around. "This must be where the pregnant women were kept…" She whimpered, pointing to the gurneys. Each woman sat with an expression of fear etched into her lifeless face, stomach seemingly torn in half as the blood dripped down the side of the small beds, intestines decorating the crimson sheets. "Oh… I think I'm gonna be sick…" She whined as she pressed her face into Setsuna's shoulder.

"This way." Chachamaru pointed at the double doors on the opposite side of the ward. Her arms jerked as another set of sparks flew from the hole in her chest. "That door should lead to one of the staff-only doors near the entrance hall."

"Are you sure you're alright, Chachamaru-san?" Negi asked with a worried expression on his face.

"I am, sensei." She nodded. "It's simple damage. Hakase-san should be able to fix it once we find her."

Evangeline started to walk ahead, scanning the room in search of any enemies. The eerie atmosphere of the room made the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and she could not help but shiver when looking at how the women were mutilated. _Such a messy job_… She though, pulling her eyes from them as the group caught up. "Let's move on." She said curtly. "I don't like it here…" They moved forwards slowly, remaining alert in case these 'snakes' Evangeline spoke of dared to attack, but even halfway to the doors, nothing happened. Eva found herself tensing more and more the closer they got to the door, and she instinctively held out her arm to stop the group. "Something's not right here…" She said, looking around her. "Their numbers should be enough to have attacked already. Why…" She paused, eyes transfix on the doors. Her breath left her as she saw the two spiky crests protruding from indentations in the organic matter surrounding the doors. "GET BACK!" She yelled, hopping back with the group just as tow sharp tails collided with the area where she once stood with a loud _clang_. Gritting here teeth, she watched as the crests began to move, and the group stood dumbfounded when what they perceived to be part of the material around them, started to move.

The monsters slowly emerged from their hiding spots, arching their backs and rearing to their full height as they towered over Negi and his friends. Slowly, almost threateningly, they stalked forwards, pulling their lips back, hissing at them. One of them reared back and screeched, shaking the walls and forcing them to cover their ears as it uttered its shrill, twisted roar. Eva's eyes widened when several hisses echoed from all around them. "That's not good…" She said, looking around as her heart started to race. Konoka yelped and latched onto Setsuna from behind, trying to hide her teary eyes in her friend's shoulder.

The smaller snakes were coming from everywhere. Peeling out of the walls, pouring from the vents and entering through broken windows, and within seconds, Eva and the others found themselves surrounded. "Bollocks… Chachamaru, how many are there?" She asked as she scanned the monsters surrounding them.

"Eighty-eight and counting, mistress." Chachamaru said, as another large collection of sparks flew from the hole in her chest. "I have five minutes left before I shut down, mistress. Do we fight or flee?"

"Do you actually think we stand a chance fighting them?" Asuna raged. "Hell, we'll a hard time _running _from these things, let alone fight them."

"Ninety-six and counting, mistress." Chachamaru said. "An attack is imminent." Eva balled her fists as she glared around her, gritting her teeth again. She saw each of the people beside her get into their fighting stance. Takamichi dug his hands into his pockets and Asuna summoned her pactio artefact. Mana took aim at two random snakes while Setsuna drew her sword. _We won't last against these numbers…_ Eva thought in a slight panic. _Not if they got through my barrier so easily…_ "Their numbers have stopped at one hundred and eleven, mistress." Chachamaru said, just as each monster leapt forwards, charging at them. Eva sighed as she saw the wave of creatures storm at her, and Konoka's shrill scream was enough to tell her they already struck on that side. Staring dead at the monster closest to her, she readied herself.

"Well… This is just _brilliant_."

* * *

A/N: All done! Really, really sorry for the nasty cliffy. That battle is simply gonna take too damn long. Or not... And my apologies to any fans of Yuna, Sakurako, Madoka and Misa for killing them off. Just to reconfirm it, **YES, THEY ARE DEAD**. As in, not coming back. Gone. Poof! Missing. I won't even try to justify it, cuz the chances are you won't see it as a valid reason no matter what I say. But, for the sake of an explanation, I need the real threat of these monsters to sink in with people like Negi and Takamichi, and the only way to do that is to kill off characters they both know. Happy? No? Thought so. Don't really care, though…

Anyhow, thanks for reading, and a special thanks to everyone who reviewed my fic. You guys are Awesome, period! I hope you guys enjoyed this one!

Stay sic, people!

-Slipkn0T- out.


	5. 5 The Hive

A/N: I'm back! And better than ever, baby! As said in my profile, -Slipkn0T- is dead now. The only thing left of him is the few signatures at the end of all the chapters so far. Now someone new is here… Now Chaos Productions is in control! Just kidding. I'm still the same dude, just… _better_, you know? Well, enough stalling! Last we saw, our heroes had just run into a horde of Xenomorphs that appeared at the hospital! Why are they there? What does Project X want with the crew? And where are the Predators at this crucial time? Let's find out!

**CHAPTER 5  
The Hive**

_**CRASH!**_

With an almighty clatter, three more of the black beasts crashed into one of the many gurneys scattered about the ward as Eva's sweep kick sent them reeling, screeching as their bodies twitched and jerked from the force of the impact. The small vampire grimaced as four more of them were upon her no sooner than the others were sent flying through the air. Grunting, she quickly hopped back to avoid their deadly talons as they lunged at her, smirking slightly as each one hit the wall with a sickening _crack_ after she pirouetted around them and delivered a spinning kick to their backs.

Several more cracked the wall behind her as Takamichi's Iaiken attacks sent them reeling, screeching as they flew from their feet in random directions. With his hands dug deeply into his pockets, loud _bangs_ and _cracks_ signified cracks appearing wherever his fists met with blinding speed, some even completely crushing the smaller black creatures under the force as he attempted to focus the bulk of his attacks on the large crested creatures, seemingly the leaders of the ambush. He grimaced slightly when he only saw them cross their arms in front of their oblong heads, and slink back a few steps before attempting another attack on him.

The gunshots ringing throughout the ward echoed off the pasty, gooey walls as the gang fought the near endless wave of creatures, five, six more joining the fray for each one felled by their fighting prowess. Eva bore several nicks and cuts along her back, chest, arms and legs, while Negi had two deep cuts along his left cheek, another on his right arm, and a few tears in his small suit, edges stained red from the cuts. With a loud screech, another black creature opened a wound on Mana's shoulder, shortly before she slammed the top of her gun into the side of its face. As it flew backwards, its tail lashed out, resulting in another slash to her body, from the tip of the shoulder to the centre of her chest. With a loud grunt, one of her guns slipped from her hands as more of the creatures descended on her.

With a frown, Setsuna quickly appeared before her, knocking the attackers away before returning to Konoka's side, hand on the hilt of her sword as she glared daggers at the hissing beasts, preparing one of her attacks. "_Zangan-_"

"Stop!" Eva called out, slightly shocking the swordswoman, resulting in the beasts utilizing the chance they were given. None of them met their mark as Yuunagi's sheath struck each of them in the mouth, knocking them away as several more circled her. With a puzzled look, she turned back to Eva for an answer. "These things bleed acid, I told you!" The small vampire cried at her. "You'll die if you slash at them while they're close to you!"

"Got it!" She answered, readying her still sheathed blade as she awaited the rest of the attack. A loud screech from the front door vibrated from the walls again, a screech Eva quickly recognised as one of agony, and she smirked when she glanced at the exit. One of the larger, crested beasts had decided to engage Negi in battle, and it was now squirming where it stood as his magic arrows of wind bound it to the walls. Asuna followed shortly after, swinging her large fan at a wave of the creatures who leapt at Negi. "Eat that!" She cried as the material slapped into their drooling mouths, effectively knocking them back as Negi readied his staff again.

The other crested beast screamed shortly after, and Takamichi grinned when he saw his Iaiken attacks had neatly broke the top half of the crest clean off. The creature fell to all fours, shrieking loudly. "Master…" Chachamaru spoke in a soft voice as more sparks flew from the hole in her body. The gynoid seemed to be struggling to keep the monsters away - the top half of her left thigh had been shredded into small scraps, and her eyes had taken on a very dull colour. "We have a chance to escape now… We should hurry up and-"

Eva grimaced when a large, muscular fist connected to the side of the gynoid's face, effectively cutting her off and propelling her form into the wall, cracking it on impact. With a scowl, she turned to face Chachamaru's attacker - and grimaced slightly when she had to crane her head up a bit to meet its gaze. The floor shook as two strong, muscular, sickly green legs walked over towards her. Yet another of the creatures had joined the fray - this one a polar opposite of the rest. Eva slowly moved back as the smaller creatures fled from her, instead focusing more on the other fighters. Where the other creatures were thin and body, this one was as muscular as could be, more pale green plates covering its buff body. Its strong arms arched backwards, clawed fingers flexing as it approached, and she saw several black dreadlocks in the pale moonlight filtering through the windows. Her expression slowly changed from one of frustration to one of apparent worry when she saw the four mandibles surrounding its mouth. _What… What on earth could it need those for?_ She mentally cried as the four small limbs flexed outwards, allowing its small jaw to drop as it uttered a roar that shook the very foundations of the hospital. In the pale moonlight, the little vampire could just barely make out the 'X' carved into its forehead. Its tail, not thin and ridged but full and almost as muscular as its body, slowly swayed behind it as it locked eyes with her.

"Master!" She heard Negi call out, quickly dispatching three of the smaller creatures as he looked to her, and then to the dreadlocked monster, with a look of slight horror.

"Stay focused on the small ones, boya." She replied, not daring to take her eyes off her new opponent. The monster seemed to be waiting for a chance to strike, growling and leaning forward at times as it slowly started to circle her. Negi did as he was ordered, hesitantly turning back to face to the smaller creatures, who were already surrounding him and Asuna.

"Don't worry, Negi." Asuna smiled as she looked at their attackers. "This is Eva we're talking about. There's no way some fat monster can beat her." She said. "We should be a bit more focused on these. It loo- CRAP!" She quickly ducked as one of the monsters shot at her, slashing wildly as it flew over her crouched form. Its friends were quick to follow its example. One by one, they lunged at Negi, fangs bared, hissing loudly.

Eva smirked when she heard their bodies connect with Negi's staff, and the shrieks of pain that followed. "Looks like your friends aren't faring very well…" She taunted the large monster in front of her. "Seems that the name 'X' is just for show…" She said, assuming her fighting stance. "Care to prove me wrong?" She asked with a smirk. With a loud growl, the beast complied, pulling back its arms as it lunged at her with a mighty roar. She laughed as she hopped back a few steps, dodging the creature's attack. However, her laugh died out in her throat when she saw its great talons tear trenches in the floor, leaving large, deep slashes in the concrete foundation as tile splintered in every direction. _Not good…_ She thought in distress, leaning to the side to dodge another blow from the creature's claws before hopping in the opposite direction as its tail lashed out at her. _Just how strong is this thing?_ She quickly dodged another attack, this time reacting with a spinning kick that struck the beast clean on the forehead.

To her utter confusion, it did not even respond.

It swatted at her again, catching her off guard, and sent her flying into one of the gurneys. "Okay…" She muttered to herself as she hopped up again, narrowly escaping death at the hands of its sharp tail. "It's very strong…" She muttered, rubbing her jaw. As if responding, X roared at her again, starting another chain of attacks as it madly slashed at her small form, to no avail. She dodged each attack with a grin, responding with swift attacks to each of its joints. She revelled in the sound of its roars of pain and agony, and its blind attacks seemed to fuel her building adrenaline that much more. "Oh, come now!" She mocked as she danced around the beast, arching her body around every attack it threw at her, its inaccuracy seeming to anger it to astounding levels. Its attacks became clumsy and predictable, and its rabid nature seemed to increase by the minute as it roared at the small vampire. "Is one hit all you're capable of?" She laughed as she landed a few feet from it, almost breaking into a fit of maniacal laughter when she saw it panting heavily, almost slouched. "My, what stamina you have…" She taunted as she shot forward. As she expected, the beast's tail lashed out at her, and she grinned as she hopped over the attack, stepping onto the sharp tip and kicking off it, propelling herself at the monster even faster.

Its attack missed by a mile. As soon as its right arm lashed at her, Eva ducked under it and delivered a crushing knee to its stomach, and immediately raised her leg for another attack, connecting a sweep kick to its lower jaw. The force of the blow combined with its fatigue caused it to stumble backwards, but the small vampire was not planning to let up her attacks so soon. Shooting forward, she struck it in the stomach again with a series of powerful palm thrusts, followed by a spinning kick right to its face. She smiled broadly when she felt the creature tip backwards under her foot, and with a loud crash, it fell over, skidding back a few feet where it remained motionless.

"Is that all you have, monster?" Eva asked with a bored expression, placing her hands on her hips as the creature stirred. "You're easily the biggest one here, yet you have this little fight in you?" She raised a brow when the creature suddenly jumped to its feet, seemingly undeterred by her attacks. "You can take a few hits, I'll give you that…" She said with an amused tone. "Let's see if you can hit me again, shall we?" The creature only nodded in compliance.

* * *

Several more gunshots rang as Mana picked off the monsters that attacked her, one by one. Her guns helped a fair deal, despite her injuries, and the creatures seemed to grow more wary of her by the minute. With a frown, she slammed the barrel of her gun down one of the monsters throats and pulled the trigger, and smirked when she heard the rubber bullet break through the roof of its mouth. The rest of the monsters backed away when her kill slumped to the ground, and with confident eyes, she turned and aimed at her next victim - only for her eyes to lose their confident gleam, and widen substantially.

There was almost nothing left of her gun.

With an almost fearful expression, she studied the barrel of her pistol, seeing that something was quickly eating away at the metal. A sulphuric smell assaulted her nostrils, and she grimaced when glanced down, seeing the blood gushing from her kill's mouth corroding the very floor of the ward. Warily, she turned her attention back at the remaining monsters. A frown flashed on her face when a dozen more joined the current ranks. Several of them stood on their hind legs, while others slowly slunk around her on all fours, waiting for an opening to attack. She quickly scanned the area around her, looking for her other gun, and her hopes left her when she saw it a few feet outside the circle. Again, she cautiously turned her attention back to the beasts. They seemed to twitch with eagerness to attack her, some even hopping around on their hind legs in anticipation. Slowly, she closed her eyes and awaited the inevitable.

In complete darkness, she heard the creatures screech as they lunged at her. Almost instantly, their shrieks died out as she heard their bodies slam into the floor, sickening cracks reverberating off the walls. Several more screeches joined the chaos, but none of them lasted longer than a second before dying out. Slowly, she opened her eyes, finding each creature that had surrounded her dead, lying within a small crater. "I didn't expect you to give up so easily…" She narrowed her eyes at hearing the voice as Takamichi stepped forward. He casually extended his arm to her, and she saw her remaining gun in his hand. "Don't lose this one again…" He smirked. "Something tells me they're angry with you for killing a friend of theirs." Mana smirked as she took her gun, turning around to face an area where the circle was relatively weak. "Shall we?" She heard the teacher ask her, and with cold expression, she whipped her gun in the creatures' direction.

"Let's go." She said.

* * *

A whispered _Eep!_ escaped Konoka's lips as she ducked her head, feeling the swooping tail miss so narrowly that the ridges swept her hair around. A loud _thunk_ caused her to jump slightly, only to feel the familiar warmth in front of her. Smiling weakly, she opened her eyes, her fears leaving her as she saw the sheath next to her head, and the squirming creature struggling to escape the broken gurney it had crashed into. Smiling, she observed the brilliant, white wings splayed in front of her as Setsuna stood ready with her blade, glaring daggers at the hissing creatures. "You will not harm her…" She said sternly, eyes unfaltering as she stared at the monsters. "You will have to come at me first."

One of the creatures suddenly shrieked, leaping at her with its claws at the ready. With one swift motion, Setsuna slammed her sword's sheath into its gut, flinging it backwards into two of its friends as three more of them stormed at her. With a frown, she knocked each of them several feet away, and placed her hand on the hilt of her blade. "_Zanganken!_" She cried, slashing at the flailing monsters with a ki-coated blade. With sickening _crack_s and gut-wrenching shrieks, each creature split neatly in half as their grossly green blood spewed in every direction. With a smirk, she ignored Eva's enraged cry at her foolishness, and watched as her plan came into action - the spraying blood stopped short a few feet in front of her, and even farther away from the others. With a confident gleam filling her eyes, she sheathed her blade again, and took up her stance. "Who's next?"

Seven more of them leapt at her, screeching wildly. Her keen eyes quickly noticed the pattern they were using - spread out, in a sweeping formation, to avoid he sword's sheathe. With another frown, she spread her wings, and blasted a huge wave of wind at them. The gust knocked them clean off their feet, sending them all crashing into the wall in a bundle. Dashing forward at a blinding speed, she quickly drew her blade, gracefully executing a number of diagonal slashes at the beasts before hopping back, avoiding their acidic blood before reappearing at Konoka's side. The remaining beasts slowly slunk back, hissing and baring their teeth as they scanned her, trying to find a weakness in her defence. "Are you okay, ojou-sama?" Setsuna asked without glancing back. "Are you hurt?"

With a smile, Konoka shook her head. "Nope. Thank you for saving me…"

"I won't let them touch you." Setsuna responded. "Not now. Not ever." The creatures sneered at her in response, and leapt at her in unison before Konoka could react to her bodyguard's words, and the young heiress simply hid her smiling face in her hands as Setsuna shot forward again, and the sounds of slaughter met her ears.

* * *

"Thirteen!" Asuna cried as her harisen smashed into an attacking creature's face with tremendous force. Another attempted to flank her, but received only a pommel to the mouth as the redhead brushed its attack away as well. "Fourteen!" She cried almost gleefully as she saw several of the creature's teeth fly past her. "How much you got, Negi?"

The young mage quickly finished the chant to another Magic Archer spell, and several arcs of lightning shot from the tip of his staff with deadly precision, blasting back several of the creatures as their bodies jerked from the shock. "I'm not exactly counting down…" He said warily, quickly spinning around to block yet another wave of attackers. The four creatures that leapt at him slashed at air when he performed a shundo, reappearing behind them with another spell at the ready. Asuna turned back to her attackers with a grin when she saw Negi's attack blast his victims into the opposite wall, causing a multitude of cracks to appear on it. "How many of these things can there be?"

"I wouldn't bargain on much more…" Asuna called to him, smacking two more beasts away. "You tied down one of the big ones, and Takahata-sensei took out the other one. See for yourself!" Negi quickly cast a glance at the area where Takamichi duelled one of the larger crested creatures, and his eyes widened slightly when he saw the creature doubled over, its limbs weak and lifeless as the blood oozing from its mouth burned a crater in the ground.

"When… When did he…"

"A few minutes after he broke the things crown off!" Asuna called. "Shows you, if anyone can get us outta this mess it's -"

_**CRASH!**_

Everyone's attention suddenly turned towards the door of the ward as the ruckus echoed through the room, and Negi grimaced when he saw that the other crested creature had broken free from its bindings and, more importantly, was charging straight at him, screeching in a fit of rage as its crest bobbed up and down. The young mage immediately had to hop back as the monster's unimaginably long tail shot at him, and he quickly preformed another shundo to open some distance between it and himself. Grunting, he slowly pointed his staff at the beast as it started to circle him. "Negi!" Asuna called at him with a worried expression as more of the creatures surrounded her. "Be careful against that thing!"

The crested beast suddenly let out a monstrous screech, one so loud that Negi dropped his staff as his hands flew to his head in attempt to shield his ears against the vocal onslaught. He only realised his mistake after the beast flew at him with a snarl, lashing out with its claws in an attempt to prevent him from getting his staff back. Negi quickly hopped back once, then again as the creature chained another attack. Swiftly, he turned to the ring Eva had given him, and began chanting another spell with which to fell the beast.

"Boya!" He heard Eva call at him. "Remember, that thing's skin is rock hard! You need more than a simple spell to harm it!" She yelled as she continued to duel with the dreadlocked beast known as X. With a determined expression, the boy turned back to the great monster and let loose another Magic Archer spell. The creature saw this coming and crouched low with a snarl before fully lowering its head.

Negi grimaced as his spell collided with the top of the beast's crest with no effect.

In a flash, it was almost upon him, slashing wildly as it attempted to lay hands on him while its inner mouth shot forward, snapping shut mere inches from the boy's forehead as he danced back to avoid its deadly talons, making good use of the multitude of openings given to him by reacting with attacks to whichever part of its body was closest. Sweat started to form on his forehead as he saw his attacks and counters shrugged off by the beast as it continued to slash at him. The young mage quickly ducked under its tail, and tried performing another shundo to appear behind it.

He only realized his mistake when he reappear - and found the creature's enormous hand closing around his neck. With wide eyes, he tried to break loose as the creature's lips parted to reveal its long, razor sharp fangs. _H-How did it…_ He paled as his eyes fell behind the beast, to see yet another crested creature there - the same crested creature he had fought against. Two more loud shrieks signalled two more crested beasts bursting through the walls of the ward, bringing a huge swarm of smaller creatures along with them. _A-Another? Three m-more? How?_

"Three more?" He heard Asuna cry as the redhead stormed the creature holding him. "Are you serious? Just how a…" Her words suddenly faded out, and the young mage recoiled as the putrid smell of blood and rotten flesh filled his nostrils, and slowly, almost as if time had slowed to a crawl, he turned to face the creature as his heart picked up, hammering wildly in his chest. His eyes widened as he saw the creature's mouth opened at its widest, its second mouth quivering as the small fangs parted. The creature's firm grip around his throat prevented him from gulping, and his throat was so dry he could not speak. His hands quivered uncontrollably, and his bladder was threatening to release itself. The creature's shrill screech reached his ears as nothing more but a faded ambient sound, and he slowly closed his eyes as he awaited the final strike.

"Giving up so soon, boya?" He heard Eva call at him through the darkness, her voice clear as day in the darkness around him. _Master…_He thought as he felt a faint glimmer of hope within himself.

"Come on, Negi-baka! Snap out of it! You need to kick that thing's butt!" _Asuna-san…_

"Negi! Wake up! Please!" _Konoka-san_…

"Negi-sensei! Get a grip and wake up! That thing is still vulnerable!" _Setsuna-san…_

"You can still beat it, Negi. Just wake up and show it what you're capable of…" _Takamichi…_

_Open your eyes… Wake up…_ Negi willed himself as felt his eyelids crack open. _Wake up… Wake up!_ All it took was an instant. The boy's eyes shot open into a determined glare just as the beast's second mouth shot forward in a flurry of spit and blood. _Wait… Wait for it…_ Negi repeated in his mind, while yet another Magic Archer spell formed in his hand. Slowly, the creature's second jaw crept forward. _Just a bit more… A little bit more…_ Just when the teeth were mere inches from his face again, his eyes narrowed, and his lip curled back into a sneer. _Now!_

"_Raika Hoken!"_

In a brilliant flash of light, Negi's fist collided with beast's jaw, releasing the lightning arrows he had charged there directly onto the dome covering its face. The creature let out a muffled shriek as its jaw slammed shut on its second mouth; shredding the flesh and causing it to bite it clean off. The minute his fist hit the creature in the face, Negi felt its grip around his throat loosen, and he dropped to the ground. He quickly rolled to the side to avoid the acidic blood spewing from the creature's mouth, and quickly dashed forwards, forming another Wind spell in his hand.

Dodging more of the vile green blood, the young mage bolted forward, slamming his charged fist into the creature's chest. His attack did not stop there - the boy kept attacking the creature with his magic-charged attacks, growling like a rabid animal as he laid punch after punch on the beast's chest, and revelling in the sounds that met his ears as he heard the monster's armour crack under his attacks.

The creature's ridged tail suddenly struck him under the chin, as the beast lunged forward, ignoring its pain. _No! I lost focus…_ Negi thought in distress as he saw the creature nearing him in mid-air. Just as he prepared to right himself, however, a black blur flew past his head, resulting in a sickening _crack_ filling the air, and the creature screeched in agony. Just as he landed, Negi flipped back and landed in a low crouch, and turned to the beast - and saw Asuna's broadsword pierced into its chest. The monster's blood was doing a quick job of eating away at the steel of the artefact, but it still doubled over from the pain, and its two comrades quickly appeared at it flanks. "Ha ha! Bull's eye!" He heard Asuna cheer as the redhead liberated a pipe from a crushed gurney to replace her blade, which disappeared in an elaborate display of white sparks and smoke. The fallen creature slowly, almost agonisingly raised its head at the girl, and hissed at her before arching its head back and letting out a low screech, just as its body went limp. As soon as the shriek died out, the creature was no more.

* * *

"See that?" Eva taunted X as she glared at the beast with a wicked smile. "My disciple just killed your kin…" She bragged as she took up her stance again. The dreadlocked beast seemed to bristle with anger as it glared at from under its protective dome, two eye sockets clearly visible in the pale moonlight. The creature snarled at her again, flexing its claws at it circled her. The remaining crested beasts suddenly let out loud shrieks again, and Eva's ears quickly picked up on the soft tapping sound resonating around the roof of the ward. Then, as if orchestrated, the cover on each ventilation shaft within the room flew off as another swarm of smaller creatures filed into the room, treading on the walls, the ceiling and even the diagonal beams of green ooze stretching from wall to wall. The small vampire grimaced at seeing the sheer number of them now - there were easily twice as many as there had been when they were first ambushed. She cursed under her breath, and turned to face the dreadlocked beast again. "Is this your way of spiting me?" She growled at it.

"S-So many!" She heard Konoka whimper from behind Setsuna, and she could pick up that even the normally stoic bodyguard was in distress over the current odds. Several more _boom_s reached her ears as Takamichi got to work on clearing an area for them to group in, and she heard Mana's gunshots ringing in every direction. The sound of Negi panting from slight exhaustion, as well as Asuna's foul exclamations at the number of attackers were closest to her. _I need to draw this thing away from them…_ She thought, studying the beast's stance. _If it decides to attack them as well…_ Acting upon her plan, she quickly charged at the monster, anticipating every possible attack it could throw at her. She gracefully ducked under the slashes it sent her way, and rolled to the side when she landed in front of it, instead opting to go past it to draw it away.

The beast saw this, and with an almighty roar, it lunged at her, swiping at her with its talons in mid-air. Eva grinned as she quickly hopped back again, dodging the swipe without cause. However, her grin disappeared when she saw that the creature standing on one leg, the other still raised, trembling slightly as it dangled in the air. _I can't remember injuring it…_ "Are my attacks kicking in, monster?" She grinned again as she saw the monster stand still. It was then that she noticed it wasn't looking at her, rather at the ground. _What could it be-_ Her train of thought ended almost instantly - the minute her feet touched the ground, the creature brought its leg down with inhuman force, sending a tremor throughout the whole ward and, more importantly, knocking the small vampire off balance.

_Such force - Wha?_ She grunted as the creature leapt at her with blinding speed, its crest crashing into her chin with enough force to make her teeth pierce her lower lip. The impact from the blow propelled the girl back, and her eyes widened when she felt the beast's hand close around her shin, yanking her back to it. As she returned her gaze, she came face-to-face with the great monster, the mandibles around its mouth inches from her face as spit and blood dripped onto her face in a slow, steady rhythm - and she noticed its closed fist a second too late.

With yet another display of inhuman strength, the beast brought its fist down onto her chest, slamming her into the ground with such force that several chunks of tile and even concrete flew in different directions from the force of the impact. She felt the floor crack and give way under her, and the wind left her lungs before she could even register the thought of crying out in pain. With another rabid snarl, X closed its fist around her chest and hoisted her up from the floor, only to slam her down again with even more force. The small splatters of blood flying from her mouth seemed to dance in front of her vision as the creature brought her up again, and slammed her down on the very cracks she caused again before it let go, allowing her body to bounce into the air. The beast closed its fist around her face this time, and slammed her into the wall so hard, she felt her nose break under its palm. "Master!" She heard Negi desperately call at her as the monster pulled her from the indentation in the wall, still holding her by her face. With her one open eye, she managed to look at the rest of her friends, all with looks of shock and horror splayed across their faces as they tried to fend off the endless waves of attackers. She lazily returned her gaze to the beast holding her, and saw it sneer at her from behind the tusks on its mandibles. She felt her body sway as the beast pulled its arm back, and she was suddenly airborne as the beast hurled her from its grasp, letting out a triumphant roar as it watched her body flail through the air before crashing into one of the remaining gurneys, where she remained motionless.

"Master!" Negi cried helplessly as he watched the great beast stride over to Eva's fallen form while the smaller creatures descended on him and his friends. It was agonising for him to see his master is such a condition and not being able to help. His loss of focus resulted in the creatures getting an even better chance of harming him, had it not been for Asuna and Setsuna at his side. "Master! Wake up! Please!" He called, oblivious to extra wounds he was receiving for his lack of attention. The dreadlocked creature X paid no heed to him, and continued to stride towards its prey, tail swaying menacingly behind it. It seemed to jitter in anticipation, and it let out a string of loud clicks from its mandibles as it approached the fallen vampire.

With one quick movement, its tail flew over its head and embedded itself into the vampire's back, drawing a soft groan of pain from her. Negi watched in horror as the beast lifted her into the air and brought her to face it as its mandibles flexed outwards. He paled when he saw how weakly Eva's bloodstained face stared death in the eyes as the beast's jaw opened completely, inner mouth eagerly snapping open and closed as the monster drew its head back, and the young mage screamed loudly in denial as the inner jaw shot forward.

But something intervened.

In a miraculous moment, the creature's head jerked back, causing it to miss its mark completely and open nothing more than a shallow cut on the vampire's forehead. Almost jumping up from the relief flooding his body, Negi watched as the monster whipped its head back and snarled. Only then did he see the mechanistic fist clutching a bunch of the dreadlocks on the side of its head, and another locked around its upper arms, each connected to a long, black cable. Hardly daring to breathe, the young mage traced the cables to their source, and broke into a wide smile when his eyes fell upon it.

"Chachamaru!" He cried happily as he green-haired gynoid glared at the dreadlocked beast with something akin to a sneer on her face, pulling at the cables extending from her arms with every fibre of her being.

"You will not harm my Master…" She said in an oddly warped voice. "Not while I still function…" She groaned as the cables started to retract. With strength only a machine could conceive, she started to drag the creature away from her master in an extraordinary display of power. "Master…" She groaned as she looked at Eva. "The structure… Between this floor and the sewage system - it's… it's unstable, and weak… T-Too much activity could-" In a blur of static, the gynoid's voice seized function. Roaring and hissing like mad, the beast attempted to slam its feet into the tiled floor, only for the tiles to shatter and break from the force it was being pulled. It swiftly glared back at the gynoid, and let out another ear-bursting roar, but Chachamaru remained unfazed, planting her feet firmly into the tiled floor as she continued to pull at the great beast. Negi gazed at her with an expression of wonder and awe at her devotion, smiling broadly as he lazily knocked the smaller creatures away with his martial arts. Then the creature fell silent - and Negi's expression changed from one of awe to one of horror in a flash.

With yet another display of its inhuman strength, the beast yanked its entire body away from the gynoid with such brute power that it lifted her clean off her feet. The retracting cables quickly kicked in and propelled her already heavily damaged form to the great beast at a frightening speed. With a loud roar, the beats swung its hand at her, striking her in the side with a backhand strike strong enough to shatter the plating covering her rib area. It quickly grabbed hold of the cables of her arms as she reeled from the blow, and pulled her to it again.

The young mage's jaw dropped when it slashed at her face with such force that its talons ripped the left side of her face clean off, leaving a part of the metallic skull visible for all to see. With another aggravated his, the beast lashed out again, and again, and again, reducing the gynoid's chest area to nothing but a mess of mechanical bits and pieces and shredded plating. With one final move, it grabbed hold of her neck and brought her to its nightmarish face, as its mandibles slowly parted and its jaw slowly lowered.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl again as Negi and Eva stared in shock at how easily the gynoid had been beaten. With wide eyes and shaking hands, the small vampire saw the dull green eye widen slightly, just as the beast inner mouth shot forward. Negi's pained cry meet her ears in a louder tone than anything in the room as the beast's inner jaw crashed into the gynoid's forehead, violently tearing at the metallic skull with a cacophony of scrapes, cracks and shattering sounds. In a burst of steel bits and torn green hair, the inner jaw erupted from the back of Chachamaru's head accompanied by a dance of sparks, and both Eva and Negi saw the life leave the gynoid's functioning eye as it dulled to a pale, sickly green colour, and her body finally slumped, devoid of life as dreadlocked beast's inner jaw quickly retracted into its mouth. In a final gesture of triumph, the beast hurled the gynoid's lifeless body at one of the higher windows in the ward, roaring as her body flew at the glass panel.

Eva saw tears well in Negi's eyes as the gynoid's body shattered the glass with a loud _crash_, and slowly turned her attention back to her former servant. The moonlight danced off the shards surrounding her body, mirroring the brilliantly white light onto her mutilated body. She saw the same monotonous expression on the gynoid's face as the one she had become accustomed to over time - the same mask she wore whenever the small vampire gave her order. The same mask she wore when she did a random activity when her master didn't need her. The same mask that was slowly crumbling away since Negi came to Japan… Then she was gone. The dancing shards of glass fell to the floor as Chachamaru's body disappeared beyond the windowsill, and clattered as the hit the floor. Panting, the dreadlocked beast arched it's back, tossed its head back and roared, a display of power and might over the battle it had just won.

With a loud growl, it turned back to Eva and picked her up by the face again, tossing her to the centre of the ward. With a loud growl, the lesser creatures ceased their assault on Negi's group, opting to run up the walls and ceiling and finding a spot to linger as the young mage and his accomplices eagerly rushed to the small vampire's side. Baring its teeth and flexing its mandibles outward, the beast hardly gave them chance to reach their target, as it immediately started to act. Crouching down, the beast leapt into the air, curling its body into a large ball before slamming down on the floor, causing a tremor that shook through the entire hospital. It growled when it saw the young mage and his friends stumble from the impact, and eagerly leapt to the side, slamming down on the floor again. Several rumbles coursed under the tiles, and the beast jumped again, and again, and again, slamming down on the floor with all its might every time. It heard its prey cry out as they lost their footing, stumbling over each other as they fell to the ground while the rumbles became more intense with each leap. Finally, the beast charged at the wall, jumping as high as it could before kicking off the vertical footing, propelling itself even higher. "W-What could it-" Eva's eyes widened as realisation dawned on her.

"_Master… The structure… Between this floor and the sewage system - it's… it's unstable, and weak… T-Too much activity could-"_

"Hold on!" She cried, grabbing hold of the cracks in the floor as the dreadlocked monster came plummeting back down to the ground. With a final, bone-quaking _crash_, the small vampire felt the floor collapse and give way under her and her comrades, just as the beast roared again. Screeching in unison, every lesser creature around them leapt from their perch, flexing their talons and opening their mouths to the limit as they descended upon the small group of fighters, denying them any chance of moving off the floor. With no other option but to defend, Negi grimaced as he and his friends had to face the horde in freefall as the darkness leading to the black depths below swallowed human and monster alike.

Standing atop the ledge left by the now destroyed floor, Project X growled at the darkness as the remaining crested creatures leapt into the chasm. It glanced up at the moonlight filtering through the skylight, and let out a last, triumphant roar before leaping into the chasm as well.

* * *

"What do you think is happening, Kazumi?" The journalist's ghostly companion Sayo asked as they eagerly navigated the halls of Library Island. Their arrival had been most eventful - Several of the teachers stood guard at the entrance as the sounds of construction within the large building drifted across the sky. These teachers told them that they are to remain inside at all times until a definite conclusion has been reached concerning the missing students and the recently destroyed Science Building.

"I really don't know, Sayo-chan." Kazumi responded as she searched for some kind of figure of authority. "But this is way too much trouble for _just_ a blown-up building and a few Missing Persons cases; I smell a scoop, and I'm going to find out where I can get a lead."

"Don't you think that's dangerous?" Sayo asked with a wary expression. "If the teachers are going through all this trouble then it must be something big…"

"And big things are always kept secret, Sayo-chan." Kazumi sang with a wink. "The only thing they're probably telling the students is that 'The situation is under control' or some other stories like that. Don't you-" The paparazzo immediately stopped in her tracks as several stern voices met her ears. "Isn't that Konoe-sama?" She asked with puzzled expression as she slunk closer to the door where the voices were coming from. "He seems tense…" She mused as she leaned in to hear the conversation.

"…cannot let this go unattended any longer!" The headmaster said, voice filled with urgency. "If the reports of these monsters are true then the students and inhabitants of this campus are all in grave danger! Yet you sit here telling me it's all under control when we have lost contact with not only two of the school's most renowned teachers, but my own granddaughter as well?"

_Granddaughter?_ Kazumi thought warily. _They lost contact with Konoka-chan?_

"I know your granddaughter is of importance, Konoe-sama," another voice spoke up, "but first we _have_ to focus on those who can be saved _at this moment_. We have no idea whether your granddaughter left that hospital, and if she didn't she probably still on the other side of the campus. We-"

"How do the statistics look?" Konoemon interrupted the man with a breaking voice, tears evident through it. "How many?" Kazumi heard the man sigh.

"Sixty-nine percent of the total campus populace have been declared missing, Konoe-sama." The man said sadly. "And ten percent of them have already been informed and are moving here as we speak."

"What of the other twenty-one percent?" The headmaster inquired, and Kazumi heard the other man sigh again, initiating a long silence.

"The other twenty-one percent…" The man finally spoke, "…are currently unaware of the order to come here."

"Unaware? _Unaware_?" Konoemon fumed. "What insolent fools have you sent out to inform them if _twenty-one percent _of them still don't know what to do? Where did those incompetent… Those… Those…"

"Please, Konoe-sama, calm d-"

"Don't tell me to be calm!" Kazumi winced when she heard the old man almost yell at the other person. "My granddaughter is out there right now, heaven knows whether she is okay or not, and to make matters worse she's stuck between a mercenary force and monsters that came from a place nobody could _dream_ to know of!"

"Mercenary force…" Kazumi mused to herself as she crept away from the door, leaving the headmaster to fume at his unfortunate employee. "This could be _huge_!" She said with a foxy grin. "A real live mercenary force on campus?" She suddenly gasped. "Sayo, what if they're the ones who bombed the Science Building? This is _brilliant!_" She whispered sharply as she danced down the hall. "A terrorist mercenary faction - this could be my biggest scoop yet!"

"Wait, Kazumi!" Sayo pleaded as she hovered beside her friend. "These are real mercenaries - they could be dangerous!"

"It's totally worth it!" Kazumi sang as she eagerly ran to the entrance. "Now, if I could just-"

"Dude, did you hear about the abandoned dorm?" A voice suddenly met their ears. _Helloooo_... Kazumi mentally spoke to herself as she crept closer to the aisle from where the voices were coming, and hid behind the bookshelf.

"No. What about it?" Another voice asked.

"Jin said that Takeshi and his girl went there a few hours ago for some 'alone time'. They never came back…"

"Nah, dude. You serious?"

"Completely! And get this: Jin told me a few minutes ago that when he passed the place earlier on his way hear, he heard freakin' _gunshots_, dude! Gunshots!"

_Jackpot!_ Kazumi cheered as she danced toward the large double doors with a large smile on her face. _This is gonna be my biggest scoop yet! 'Terrorists Terrorise Mahora!' I can see it already_! She smiled as she broke into a sprint towards the double doors. "Oh, wait for me, mercs! My scoop is on the line here!"

* * *

Satomi screamed softly as the soldiers chucked her back into her small cell. "Magic, huh?" One of them grinned at her. "What, they gonna dazzle us to death with cheap card tricks and bunnies pulled from their hats?"

"Nah man, they're probably gonna shoot some fancy red sparks at us from their small sticks…" The other joked as he kicked Satomi in the ribs. "Jesus, just look at her. Corban's a fuckin' animal…" He said, poking the gauze on her face with the tip of his gun. A makeshift cast had been placed around her dismembered left hand, on which only her thumb and her index finger remained. Numerous circular burns covered her bare thighs and stomach, and the gauze covering her severed eye was already stained blood red. "I'd hate to get on that guy's bad side one day… Seems his superiors were some real fucktards not to believe him back in the day." The soldier said as he locked the gate to the young scientist's cell. "You know Hawk? He served in the Seals with Corban all those years back, says that the Xenomorphs are exactly what Corban described that killed his team."

"Look where that got them. Then there was that fool Schaeffer… What was his call name again?" The first soldier asked as Satomi quickly skittered to the corner of her cell, sobbing softly as she brought her knees up to her chin.

"Dutch." The second replied. "Alan 'Dutch' Schaeffer. God, Corban hates that man with a fuckin' passion. That douche went into an Indonesian jungle shortly after Corban was dishonourably discharged, then came out a sole survivor claiming an invisible monster with plasma weaponry killed his team off. Of course the feds fell over their feet at the idea of plasma guns. So Corban tells a shit story and gets his ass whipped. Dutch tells a shit story and gets hailed a hero. Ironic, wouldn't ya say?"

Satomi's sobs became louder as the two soldiers left the cell. _This is all my fault…_ She thought to herself as the lights dimmed. _All because of my stupid wishes 'for the sake of science'. And now everybody's because of it…_ She buried her face into her hands, ignoring the pain brought on by her severed eye. _Then there's the hospital… Oh God, please let them live… I hope the team Corban sent there doesn't find them… I… I know Negi-sensei is strong… But against X… Even Eva has no chacen against a full horde…_ Grief-stricken, she laid down on the cold, hard floor, her knees still pulled up to her chest.

_Negi-sensei… Everyone… Please, forgive me…_

* * *

"So the vamp got jumped by Project X…" Corban grinned evilly as he took a deep drag of the cigar hanging in his mouth. "One less magic bitch for us to worry about, eh, boys?" He asked as he turned back to his troops. The abandoned dorm towered into the sky in an intimidating fashion, with gun nests and snipers in every possible location. "Seems the Hakase bitch speaks easily when you turn up the pressure…" He said as he turned to face the bushes outside the minefield. He frowned slightly, and turned back.

"Think he saw us?" Sayo asked in a panic as Kazumi pulled the branches aside and raised her camera to her face again. "What if he saw us? Oh, I think he saw us…!"

"Calm down, Sayo-chan." Kazumi whispered as she eagerly snapped photos of the compound. "That guy with the trench coat looks like the leader… If he needs a coat to make himself look big, there's no way he's sharp enough to see us all the way here. I am curious to know why Hakase told them everything, though… But-" She quickly held her tongue when the coat-wearing man spoke again.

"The one thing I really am worried about is that damn ghost…" He said, causing Kazumi's eyes to widen. "An invisible soul is much more trouble than a simple Xenomorph or one of those damn Hunters…" He quickly whipped out his revolver, and aimed in the opposite direction. Kazumi subconsciously released a baited breath, and continued to take pictures. "Hakase told me about an over-eager journalist residing here, too…" He said, still scanning the area ahead of him. "No doubt she's gonna want to know about this Hunter stalking us if I manage to kill the bastard…" Grunting in unison, each soldier raised his gun and aimed at the bushes where their leader was aiming.

"There's a Hunter there, sir?" One of them asked warily, gluing his eye to the sights of his rifle.

"Not anymore, Kiddo." Corban said, lowering his revolver. "Seems we scared it off. That, or there wasn't a Hunter to begin with…" He said cryptically.

"You mean you misinterpreted something, sir?"

"Nope." Corban said. "Do you know how you properly deal with foes that hide, Kiddo?" He asked the young soldier as he slowly moved to holster his gun.

"No, sir. How?" The rookie asked eagerly. Corban only grinned as madness flashed in his eyes.

"You mislead them…"

With one quick motion, Kazumi found herself staring down the barrel of Corban's revolver through; his eyes filled with madness, hers filled with a sudden fear as his sinister smirk sent a cold chill up her spine. Quickly, she peeled her eyes from her camera and attempted to get up.

_**BOOM!**_

Her camera shattered in her hands as a stinging pain spiked through her chest, her shrill scream of agony easily overlapping the explosion of the gunshot and Sayo's fearful cry. With a devilish smirk, Corban fired off two more shots as Kazumi fell, one embedding itself in her shoulder, and the other in her stomach. The cold earth slammed into her face when she finally hit the ground, and her vision was swimming too much for her to make out her surroundings. "Kazumi! Kazumi?" Sayo cried in a panic, helplessly floating beside her dying companion, unable to do anything to help her. "Kazumi! No!" She cried, tears flowing down her cheeks.

None of her cries met the journalist's ears. The loud ring of the gunshots still ricocheted in her head, and her ears rang for a while before she felt a steel tipped boot kick her onto her back. The colour remaining in her face quickly drained when her eyes fell upon the man who shot her, smirking down at her bleeding body with eyes and a twitching trigger finger. "The ghost's only friend… How _cute_." He taunted. "So you're the journalist, eh? Hakase told me a lot about you… Kazumi Asakura." The journalist's eyes widened at Corban's use of her full name. "She also told me about your involvement with one Negi Springfield and a circle of mages here. Is that true?"

"I…" She rasped at him. "I don't know… what you're talking about…" She spat at him, causing him to break into a hearty laugh.

"And what if I don't believe you, Asakura?" Corban asked. "What then?" His smirk grew when she only glared daggers at him, wincing from the pain the bullets brought on. "I'll tell you what happens then: I _know _you're in on the mages' little group. So now I take you back inside the dorm… and then I beat the living shit out of you, over and over and over again, until you tell me enough to quench my thirst." He chuckled when he saw Kazumi's eyes widen in fear as he brushed his coat aside, revealing a wide assortment of knives, scalpels and tools.

"Oh yes…" He grinned as he ordered his men to seize her. "I can see me and you are gonna be _great_ friends… Just like me and Hakase…"

* * *

Asuna groaned as she sat up, blinking a few times to adjust her sight to the sudden darkness she found herself in. Several sick squelching sounds echoed down the circular passageway as she moved, and with several grunts, she stood up, still trying to figure out where she was. Her eyes were slowly adjusting to her gloomy surroundings, and she could already make out two paths of solid concrete flanking what seemed like a body of water decorated by a grisly assortment of vile, sickly green goo floating atop it. The walls and floor were coated with a substance similar to that which they saw in the hospital, and it seemed to form mounds of flesh on the walls and rook. Quickly, she looked around, and her heart sank when she found nobody near her. "Guys?" She called out, slowly stepping forward, surveying her surroundings carefully. "Hey guys! Anyone there?" She called, feeling the sudden narrowness of the corridor kick in as her heart began to hammer in her chest. "Come on guys… This isn't funny!"

Then she froze. There, at the end of the corridor, highlighted by a small torch, laid the corpse of what looked like a sewage worker - and above him, a thin, ridged tail soaked in blood, swaying menacingly in the light.

Asuna's heart immediately shot to her throat as she broke out in a cold sweat. She felt her hands begin to tremble as she watched the tail disappear into the shadows, and the sound of water dripping onto concrete suddenly reminded her very much of the sounds the creatures made when they walked on walls. "G-guys?" Her voice came out soft and broken, a barely audible whisper as the light at the end of the corridor suddenly went out. She quickly started to step back, not daring to take her eyes off the end of the sewage pipe - and froze again when she felt the warm breath on her neck, and the smell of blood and flesh in the air. Clutching her pipe tightly, she spun around with a slight yell, swinging madly at her attacker.

Nothing.

She swung at air as her pipe connected with the side of the large tunnel, scraping loudly as the sound of steel on steel echoed down the corridor. The smell of blood vanished, as did the warm breath on her neck. She heaved a sigh of relief, allowing her fear to die down as her heart started beating normally again, before turning around.

A loud hiss and a gaping mouth met her eyes, blasting wafts of the smell of blood into her face as a loud screech came from the being's throat. And just as it lunged at Asuna, her scream of terror finally escaped from her throat as the black creature attacked.

* * *

"Asuna-san…" Setsuna whipped her head in the direction of the scream as soon as it was abruptly cut off, placing her hand on the hilt of her sword as she turned back, only to find a hand on her arm, stopping her. Slowly, she turned around to face her companion.

"Judging by that scream, she's a goner." Mana said. "There's no saving her after that." Setsuna looked back in the direction of the scream, hoping, praying for a sign that her friend might still be alive. None came. Only sounds of water dripping onto concrete. "We should carry on." Mana said, turning back in the direction they came from. "If we stay still they might get us too."

Accepting her friend's untimely fate, Setsuna turned around with a look of sorrow on her face, and followed Mana into the darkness of the sewers, and all the dangers that roamed there.

* * *

"This… This must be their nest…" Eva panted as Konoka laid her against the wall of the pipe. "T-Their Hive…"

"Ssh." Konoka hushed her. "You shouldn't speak. Just rest. I'm going to try and heal you."

"No!" Eva snapped, quickly sitting back up and wincing from the pain. "N-No… Not if those things a-are down here… Healing me will take too long…" She grimaced. "If th-those things are near… They'd easily kill you, and me, if we're not alert."

"Then what do I do?" Konoka asked fearfully. "We have to get you out of here. We-"

"I'm in no condition to move." Eva cut her off. "You best go look for Sakurazaki… She's more capable of keeping you safe right now…"

"What?" Konoka gasped. "Are you… Are you telling me to leave you here?"

"I'll be fine…" Eva grunted as she gripped her side. "You, however… They can get you easily." She said, looking the young heiress straight in the eye. "So get going. I won't tell you again…" Konoka looked down at Eva's battered form, then down the sewage pipe, and back to Eva again.

"Fine then." She said, getting down on her knees.

"What the…" Eva's eyes widened as she felt Konoka's arms under her back and legs, and before she knew it, the young heiress had lifted her off the ground. "What the devil are you doing?" She raged.

"Helping." Konoka said with a determined expression. "If I can't heal you, then I'll take you to someone who can stand guard while I do." She said as she started walking down the sewer pipe with the small vampire in her arms.

"Have you lost your mind?" Eva raged at her, ignoring the pain her movements brought on. "This is literally begging them to come at us!"

"They will if you keep screaming at me…" Konoka huffed. "This way, we both live. I carry you, and you fight any of them who show up." She said. "That's not so bad, is it?" Eva was at a loss for words at Konoka's actions. The small vampire simply lay there in her arms. "I'm not gonna let you, Eva-chan. You're our friend." She said. "That, and Negi would never let me hear the end of it for leaving you…" Eva quickly turned her head away to hide the slight tint of pink on her cheeks.

"W-Whatever. You walk, then. I'll look out for the monsters." She said as she kept her eyes glued to the tunnel, and focused her senses on rooting out any monsters near them. However, just before their descent into the dark tunnels, Konoka heard the small vampire mutter under her breath.

"Typical. Just typical…"

* * *

"Well, this is a sticky situation…" Takamichi said as he gazed at the multitude of steel walkways crossing over a large pool of filthy water several feet down. "This looks like the sewage system… But this substance on the wall says it's not just a sewage system anymore."

"It looks like those snakes turned this network into a nest of sorts." Negi said, fidgeting with the sling around the arm he broke during the fall. "This is the same substance that was on the walls in the hospital…" He winced when Takamichi quickly turned his gaze to the way they came from with narrowed eyes.

"Visitors…" He said, digging his hands into his pockets and scanning the area around him. "Though I can't say where…" He turned around again, as did Negi, and the two scanned the surrounding area, failing to notice the hazy silhouette hovering on one of the walkways above them.

"Are you sure?" Negi asked carefully studying the room they were in. "I can't see anything… Those creatures should be-" He froze as he faced the older teacher, seeing the three red dots hovering on his back. Casting his gaze upward and following the beams projecting the dots, he saw them stop at a very hazy area of one of the upper walkways. "Takamichi, above you!" He cried, and the older teacher quickly spun around just as a soft, harsh explosion echoed down the hole, resulting in a bolt of blue firing at Takamichi. "Look out!" Negi cried.

_**BOOM!**_

* * *

"This is getting us nowhere…" Eva sighed, as Konoka panted while she walked down the tunnel. "At least let me try and walk by myself. It'll go quicker that way…"

"So you can pull another 'Leave me' stunt?" Konoka asked. "No way. I'll carry you until - Wait… Do you hear that?" She suddenly stopped, tilting her head slightly. Eva did the same, trying to hear what it was that got the heiress' attention.

"…should keep going. I know that you're grieving for Asuna, but turning back now is suicide." A voice floated from a tunnel to their left.

"Isn't that Tatsumiya-san?" Konoka asked. Eva only nodded in answer, tilting her head again to hear who the mercenary was talking to.

"I know." Another voice spoke, and Eva literally felt the warmth starting to radiate through Konoka's body. "I just feel… I don't know… She just… It was so sudden. We just a scream, and then… Nothing. It's chilling to know that someone as physically strong as Asuna lost so easily…"

"Set-chan…" Konoka whispered, a wide smile plastering itself on her face as she quickly turned and sped down the passageway, running as fast as she could. The voices grew louder as they continued to run, and they eventually reached a large shaft leading to one of the lower levels of the sewers. Gently setting Eva down against the wall, Konoka knelt by the edge of the shaft, and almost screeched in joy as she looked down. "Set-chan!" She called happily down the shaft.

Setsuna's ears quickly picked up on the voice, and she spun around, seeking her friend. "Up here!" The voice called, and the half-demon looked up to see Konoka kneeling by the edge of the chasm. "I found you!" She giggled, and Setsuna heaved a sigh of relief as she smiled at her friend. "Hey, Mana-chan!" Konoka eagerly waved at Setsuna's accomplice, who simply nodded at her, before she turned back to Setsuna. "Hey, Set-chan, Eva-chan's up here, but she's hurt pretty bad. Can you help us?"

"Of course, Kono-chan." Setsuna smiled as she spread her wings, face radiating with joy as she flew up the shaft. She shared a brief, yet warm, caring hug with Konoka as she reached the top. "I'm glad you're safe…" She said softly. Konoka only giggled in response.

"Same here, Set-chan." She smiled. "Now let's get Eva-chan down from here. She needs to go first because someone has to keep her safe. If I leave her alone up here in her state, she'll lose if one of those snakes come."

"So Tatsumiya-san can keep her safe until I take you down too…" Setsuna filled in the blanks. "That way you can heal her while we keep watch?" She asked, and Konoka eagerly nodded. The half-demon slowly turned to a now sleeping Eva, and scooped the small girl into her arms before walking to the ledge. "I'll be back shortly." She said as she hopped from the ledge, gracefully gliding to the floor below, where she landed with a soft _tap_. Carefully, she set Eva down by Mana's side, and turned back up. Konoka was kneeling at the ledge again, smiling broadly as she looked at her and Mana, before giggling slightly. Setsuna slowly shifted Eva into a more comfortable position, while Mana decided to cast a glance at Konoka - at which the mercenary's blood almost instantly froze, eyes widening substantially as time in her world slowed again.

Konoka seemed oblivious to the shadow looming over her. The elongated, ridged head, the bony, almost emaciated body, the shiny dome covering its face, and the rows of sharp fangs hiding a powerful second jaw - all present on the being as it drew its lips back in a sneer and parted it teeth. Mana saw Konoka pale at feeling the breath on her neck, and her pupils shrunk to a size impossible to see at the current distance. Slowly, the heiress craned her neck around, and froze immediately when her eyes met the fangs, the bony chest and the shiny dome - and she remained.

"Setsuna!" Mana cried, whipping her gun out. The half demon immediately responded to her urgent cry, and turned around to face Konoka. She paled as well when she laid eyes on the creature, and her blood felt like it had turned to ice in her very veins as the creature's maw opened wide, revealing it's dangerous second mouth. "Don't just stand there - DO SOMETHING!" Mana ordered as she took aim at the creature. Within a fraction of a second, Setsuna broke free from her stupor and grabbed her sword, just as the beast wrapped its fingers around Konoka's throat. Even through its vice-like grip, Konoka's scream of terror reverberated off the walls as the monster pulled her back, away from the ledge. The scream shook Setsuna's very soul as she took flight after the beast, sweating profusely as she covered the distance of the shaft in a flash. With a look of pure fear on her face, she burst from the fall of water cascading down the shaft, desperately scanning the tunnel for a sign of her friend - and found nothing. "K-Kono-chan!" She called as she glided down the tunnels, each turn leading her into more turns and dead ends. "Kono-chan! Can you hear me?" She called, bewildered at the current turn of events. She quickly backtracked all the way to ledge where Konoka had knelt less than a minute before, calling her friend's name with every breath she took, to no avail.

She did not register when the tears started to flow down her cheeks. Her heart was hammering in her chest, and she felt sick to her stomach when she finally stopped. Her breathing was rapid, raspy and heavy, and her head pulsed with every beat of her heart. "Kono-chan!" She called again, and again, she received no answer. Hopeless, she fell to her knees as more tears streamed down her face. She had failed, she told herself. Konoka was gone, disappeared without a trace.

There was nothing in the tunnels. No young heiress, no innocent giggle or playful comment. No accursed screech or hiss the creatures uttered, no talons tapping against the concrete as they moved. There was only darkness, the occasional howl brought on by drafts travelling along the streams, and the sound of water on concrete, as Setsuna's silent sobs accompanied the sound of the dripping water.

Konoka was gone.

* * *

A/N: The end!

…

…

…

Nah, not really. This is not the end, people! Don't make the same assumption my beta reader did!

So the dreaded cliffhanger strikes again, just like last chapter… I profusely apologize to all fans of Chachamaru for killing the poor gynoid off. I'm not gonna apologize to Asuna and Konoka fans just yet - are they dead? Are they alive? Is Takamichi okay? You know what? I'm not gonna tell you that… You guys will just have to wait for the next chapter in nail-biting suspense!

I dunno… I rewrote the end to this chapter about five times, and each bloody time it felt like it was… I dunno, _rushed_, I guess. My Beta-Reader tells me it's the coffee speaking, and my sis claims it's just that annoying voice in the back of my head. So I'm really confused over this. Please, guys, if you feel this chapter's ending was rushed, let me know. I need to get better at this…

Just so by the way, for those who don't know, you'll see two soldiers in this chapter spoke about a man named 'Dutch' Schaeffer - this man was Arnold Schwarzenegger's (Hope I spelled that right) character in the very first Predator film.

Well, 'til next chapter, then! Thanks for reading, guys. I hope this one didn't disappoint!

**See ya!  
CP**


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